Definition of Cynical Philosophy

lilen gomez | Jan. 2022
Professor in Philosophy

The Cynic school is part of a movement of different philosophical currents that, as a response to the situation politics, economic and social, elaborate various reflections on those ways of life that lead to happiness.

Difference Between Philosophical Cynicism and Popular Cynicism

In the first place, the concept of cynicism (from the Greek kynismos) in philosophy with the vulgar notion of cynicism in common language. In antiquity, the cynical school was formed as a current of thought which confronted the idealistic philosophy represented by the Platonic Academy. in the language contemporary, the term "cynicism" recovers some characteristics that were assigned to the representatives of the Greek philosophical school in relation to their ways of life, namely, it is understood today by "cynical” to someone who disregards social conventions and moral norms, without remorse. However, it is a quality that, at present, is not necessarily linked to a current of thought.

On the other hand, it is worth pointing out the difficulty of carrying out a systematic reconstruction of Cynic philosophy, since, in In many cases, there are discrepancies between the sources that gather testimonies, comments and anecdotes about said thought. In this line, the very concept of philosophical "school" or "current" can be questioned, to the extent that it is not self-evident that cynicism constitutes a uniform school of thought, or rather a mode of life; since, precisely, one of its pillars is the criticism of theory understood as a separate and independent sphere of vital praxis.

Finally, in relation to the figure of Diogenes of Sinope —as we shall see, one of the main referents of Cynic philosophy—, something happens similar to the well-known Socratic problem, that is, it is not possible to determine with certainty whether it is a historical individual or a character "fictional".

The values ​​of the cynical philosophy

Although Antisthenes is recognized as the founder of the Cynic school, he was the figure of Diogenes of Sinope, also known as Diogenes "the dog", which became popular as a representative of cynical values, by carrying them forward through his own way of life. The basic tenet of Cynic philosophy holds that, in order to achieve happiness, it is necessary to live a life according to nature. In this sense, moral norms are an obstacle to achieving happiness: if we observe the animals, they satisfy their desires immediately, without attending to other criteria than those biological. As soon as these criteria become moral in human society, in parallel, desires become unsatisfiable, so happiness is never achieved.

The vital praxis, that is, the way of life, then appears as the area in which these values ​​can be subverted through an art of living oriented towards freedom and happiness. The dimension of corporality becomes central, as a counterpart to Platonic idealist philosophy, which considered the body in terms of degradation compared to the idea. For the Cynics, the body and bodily pleasures are constitutive of the power to act freely, therefore, they should not be suppressed from thought, as Plato wanted.

Cynics and politics

For the cynical, aesthetic, ethical and political philosophy, they are intertwined spheres in vital praxis: vindicating the body and its sensitive capacity as the place from which think own conduct, the ethos, becomes an eminently political issue in that it dislocates the separation between the public and the private in the context of the polis. Knowledge, following the Platonic philosophy, was something proper to the intellect and, therefore, it was up to the wise to govern. The cynic subverts this conceptual framework: life should not follow merely intellectual precepts, therefore, the government he also does not correspond to the sage; on the contrary, if freedom is understood in those terms, it is reduced to servitude. Thus, Diogenes obtained the nickname "dog", because his public behavior contradicted social conventions, since he did not intend to hide the traits of animality typical of the human.

Bibliographic references

Baquero Gotor, A. (2020) The Betrayal of Diogenes. Contemporary readings of Cynic philosophy. Presses of the University of Zaragoza.

Vasquez Gomez, V. (2017). The cynical scandal of freedom: a study on the concept of parrhesia in Diogenes of Sinope. Valley University.