A cynical man and his bathtub - Understanding Stoicism: Historical context pt.1
I’ve been hanging around on Steemit for almost a month now and have noticed that Stoicism is quite a popular philosophy in this crazy neck of the woods. Some people reference it literary in their post or comments, while others think and write things that closely resemble a Stoic outlook on life (whether they are aware of it or not).
To understand why this ancient philosophy is still popular today, I’ve decided to start a series of posts critically analysing Stoicism and its various revivals and influences throughout the ages. Welcome to Understanding Stoicism!
Before we dive into a critical analysis of the tenets of Stoic philosophy, we first need to learn something about its historical context. The first three parts of Understanding Stoicism will mostly act as an introductory history lesson. Later parts will feature extensive critical analysis of Stoic ethics, epistemology and cosmology.
Historical Context pt. 1: Diogenes - A cynical man and his bathtub
Jean-Léon Gérôme - Diogenes© Walters Art Museum
But before we properly dive into Stoicism, let me first tell you the story of a man and his bathtub. And not just any ordinary bathtub, but a large ceramic jar in the center of ancient Athens. Residing in this tub was Diogenes of Sinope (404-323 B.C.), one of the founders of Cynicism. He was heavily influenced by Socrates and wanted to continue the search of what it meant to live a virtuous life.
According to the many anecdotes about his life, the way he acted out his philosophy was quite a spectacle. By all accounts this guy was an absolute legend in his time. Not only because of his radical ideas, but mostly because of his outrageous behaviour.
Diogenes praised the virtues of dogs and rejected common standards of human decency by defecating in front of a crowd and even urinating on those who insulted him. As a result people started calling him kynikos or “dog-like”; of which later the term “cynic” was derived. Diogenes even enjoyed this label and was known for literally barking at people that bothered him.
However, he wasn’t a mad man. His disruptive actions were a calculated way to expose what he perceived as the regressive nature of Greek civilization. He was a clever thinker that used wit and satire to expose people’s irrationalities. For example, he often times walked around with a burning lantern in broad daylight. When someone asked him what he was doing, he’d answer he was “looking for an honest man.”
Nicolas Andre Monsiau - Alexander and Diogenes (Source)
He soon became famous and when Alexander the Great came to visit him and offered him a favor, Diogenes calmly replied “Stand a little out of my sun.” Alexander walked away laughing and told his followers “If I were not Alexander, I would be Diogenes.”
But why would the most powerful man in the world want to be like Diogenes, a social outcast living in a ceramic jar in absolute poverty? Because in a strange way both men were the same. Alexander was so powerful that no man could do anything to him and Diogenes was so devoid of any pride and so removed from social conventions that he found freedom in having nothing to lose.
Because make no mistake, Diogenes bizarre behaviour was founded in a well thought-out philosophical ideal. For him the purpose of life is to live in virtue, in accordance with nature. Since it is in the nature of man to act in accord with his reason, this natural life is rational. Societal conventions such as wealth, power and property aren’t natural and often times irrational, and thus must be rejected. Man must live a life of self-sufficiency, austerity and shamelessness. The more man rejects authority and lives in accordance with his natural reason, the closer he will get to achieving a tranquil state of mind and true happiness.
Diogenes believed that actions speak louder than words; which explains his unusual antics. As a result he despised theoretical knowledge that serves no practical purpose. So it shouldn’t be a surprise that he and Plato weren’t best buddies, and he often times ridiculed Plato’s abstract philosophy by disrupting his lectures or even showing up naked at his house.
But despite his controversial lifestyle, he was taken surprisingly serious by his peers and gained followers. One of his pupils, Crates of Thebes, would in his turn be the teacher of Zeno of Citium, the later founder of Stoicism.
In the next part of Understanding Stoicism we’ll discuss why Diogenes' radical behaviour and rejection of social conventions were a major requisite for the birth of Stoic philosophy.
But in the meantime, think about this!
Which social conventions do you found unnatural or irrational? And what’s stopping you from, just like Diogenes, rejecting them completely?
Sources and further reading:
Diogenes Laertius, Lives of Eminent Philosophers
Dio Chrysostom, Discourses
Plutarch, The Parallel Lives
Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Diogenes of Sinope
More Understanding Stoicism
Enjoyed this post? Feel free to upvote and follow @gamesjoyce !
Proud member of @steemdeepthink
Come join us on Discord! https://discord.gg/7qyarFD
You might also like:
You might not be such a good friend as you think you are - A simple philosophy of friendship
Is government a necessary evil? - Thomas Hobbes' Leviathan (Debate This! #1)
"The unexamined life is not worth living." - Hello Steemit!
"Freedom's just another word for, nothing left to lose.."
Very appropriate indeed!
Which reminds me to listen to my copy of Pearl again. It's been awhile. Great album!
Brilliant! I have been wanting to study upon what it means to be a stoic. Timothy Faris (The 4 Hour Work Week & Tools of Titans) talks a lot about stoicism so naturally, having listened to a couple of his podcasts, I'm beginning to get a bit interested in this ideology.
I have even, unknowingly, as you spoke of in your write up, begun to live by the mantra, "Less is more."
I have to say... I'm beginning to love the simplicity of it.
The image of Steve Jobs sitting on the floor under his beautiful lamp comes to mind... I have been finding that when I have less in my environment I'm able to derive more of the things I really value and care about. Space leaves room for what's important and allows me to focus on the things I really want from this experience called life.
@gamesjoyce I am really looking forward to your break down on Stoicism. :)
Thanks! I'll check out Timothy Faris. Never heard of him tbh.
Let me know how that goes! Tim has a great mind and interviews many people who are thought leaders and innovators. He actually had a lot of content but all of it is high quality. Enjoy! 🙂
It is spelled Tim Ferriss, he is most known for the "4 hour work week" I did an article about that here He has a fantastic podcast where he interviews a lot of top notch people from very diverse backgrounds. Stoicism regularly comes up. He even produced an audible book called the Tao of Seneca which is a treatment of the original letters of Seneca
As a greek person interested in philosophy I would like to thank you for your effort. Not because of its context (promoting ancient greek philosophy or not is irrelevant) but for the accurate description and the provided links in corellation with the subject. I do not have a Phd in Stoicism or Cynicism but this is by far the most carefully molded article for philosophy apprentices like myself.
And a personal addition is that the ancient greek word κύων (dog) made it to modern greek, where we call the cacine (κυνόδοντα) as a a tribute to the quite visible dog ones! I think both come from the Indo-European language roots though!
Greetings from sunny Greece!
I was about to write a similar comment to yours, lol.
Glad you liked it!
I'm curious though, is there a big difference between ancient and modern Greek? For some reason I was under the impression they are basically the same language.
Greetings from rainy Belgium! Haha...
Well I am not a philologist but from my understanding, basic grammatical structures have remained the same while others have been completely discarded. But the bigest difference would be in the vocabulary since the initial meaning of many words has been changed or in many cases the ancient greek word has been replaced by modern ones coming from english,french,turkish (deriving from the 400 years ottoman occupation). So its kinda of a mixed language with let's say a 50% similarity with the ancient one. For example when I read ancient greek texts in ruins I cannot completely understand, but the main idea (wars, gods, rivarlies, knowledge etc ) is understandable.
Keep up your interesting posts!
Thanks for the thoughtful post. You made philosophy fun! I think that the social convention of men wearing neckties is really weird. Kind of like a noose around their neck. Some of them are pretty...but really?
I will be following to see what other deep ideas you have to share.
Thanks for the compliment and the reply!
Now I'm imagining Diogenes showing up at a party butt naked wearing nothing but a necktie, shouting "Am I important now too?" :-D
Thanks for the laugh and the mental image! 😊
That's a hilarious image :D
@stillwatersart
nice comment... especially on neck tie
so what do you sugest men wear in place of the neck tie? hope you not asking us to dress like Diogenes! ;)
LOL...not Diogenes. Maybe just a shirt without a tie. Something more relaxed.
ahh...then you have to make a fashion design for us to check out! as a great steemian i trust you are innovative!
what of ladies fashion...i trust there are areas you need adjustments...;)
I think the kravat began as a protective garment layer for the shirt that morphed into a piece of attire treated more delicately than the shirt itself; sort of the tail wagging the dog.
Im glad I stumbled into this post today. Im really fascinated in Philosophy. I read about plato, aristotle, buddha and even machiavelli. I know i have read above zeno of stoic but not of Diogenes. You really explained it well.
Am also thnking of making my own crash course of philosophy to make it easier for young philosophers. Great work! You have my support
Glad you liked it!
Now I'm motivated again to write some new parts of this series. Thanks! :-)
You definitely should! I will look forward to it. Happy holidays
Excellent post, I believe Diogenes philosophy will have a come back for those who don't feel the urge to hoarder stuff.
I feel that Stoic philosophy provides a lot of answers to difficult problems facing modern culture. Information can be weaponized because humans react so emotionally during social media exchange. He who is easily angered, is easily manipulated.
For sure. Anger and fear make people vulnerable to manipulation. Every 'great' dictator knows that.
Great read, but one quibble-is it so much about rejecting authority, or rather being free of caring what others think of you, which removes the aura of power around those in authority, and making them easy to ignore?
I think of Nassim Taleb talking abou f--- you money that allows moderns to do the same.
Thanks! It's the latter: being free of social conventions and thus removing the aura of power.
wow... stoic philosophy... a great story about Diogenes got me spell bound and admired his resolve to live te life of reality than theory! a great post @gamesjoyce worthy of my support
keep it coming!
Sounds like Diogenes just wanted to live his life on his on terms because he realized, like today's society, the status quo that we are all so proud to uphold, makes no sense. What we call rational and reasonable, are actually irrational.
As you stated, status quo is based on just status, not truth, not justice, not even right and wrong. Who you are determines what you can and cannot do. We proclaim freedom but cannot even collect rain water in some parts of the world.
Does that really make sense? Plus of course, Alexander was envious. He was powerful but had to follow the rules and restrictions of his rank and position. There are things that even a king cannot do without public ridicule. Diogenes didn't care. A king cannot afford to not care.
@voltsrage
quite a nice comment
you sounded as a philosopher too...
Right on the mark with Alexander!