Antisthenes biography examples

Antisthenes first learned rhetoric under Gorgias before becoming an ardent disciple of Socrates. He adopted and developed the ethical side of Socrates' teachings, advocating an ascetic life lived in accordance with virtue. Later writers regarded him as the founder of Cynic philosophy. Antisthenes was born c. His mother was thought to have been a Thracian , [ 3 ] though some say a Phrygian , an opinion probably derived from his sarcastic reply to a man who reviled him as not being a genuine Athenian citizen, that the mother of the gods was a Phrygian [ 4 ] referring to Cybele , the Anatolian counterpart of the Greek goddess Rhea.

He is said to have lectured at the Cynosarges , [ 12 ] a gymnasium for the use of Athenians born of foreign mothers, near the temple of Heracles. Filled with enthusiasm for the Socratic idea of virtue, he founded a school of his own in the Cynosarges, where he attracted the poorer classes by the simplicity of his life and teaching. He wore a cloak and carried a staff and a wallet, and this costume became the uniform of his followers.

In his Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers Diogenes Laertius lists the following as the favourite themes of Antisthenes: "He would prove that virtue can be taught; and that nobility belongs to none other than the virtuous. And he held virtue to be sufficient in itself to ensure happiness, since it needed nothing else except the strength of spirit.

And he maintained that virtue is an affair of deeds and does not need a store of words or learning; that the wise man is self-sufficing, for all the goods of others are his; that ill repute is a good thing and much the same as pain; that the wise man will be guided in his public acts not by the established laws but by the law of virtue; that he will also marry in order to have children from union with the handsomest women; furthermore that he will not disdain to love, for only the wise man knows who are worthy to be loved".

Antisthenes was a pupil of Socrates, from whom he imbibed the fundamental ethical precept that virtue , not pleasure , is the end of existence. Everything that the wise person does, Antisthenes said, conforms to perfect virtue, [ 21 ] and pleasure is not only unnecessary, but a positive evil. His work on natural philosophy the Physicus contained a theory of the nature of the gods , in which he argued that there were many gods believed in by the people, but only one natural God.

In logic , Antisthenes was troubled by the problem of universals. As a proper nominalist , he held that definition and predication are either false or tautological , since we can only say that every individual is what it is, and can give no more than a description of its qualities, e. Antisthenes apparently distinguished "a general object that can be aligned with the meaning of the utterance" from "a particular object of extensional reference".

This "suggests that he makes a distinction between sense and reference". In later times Antisthenes came to be seen as the founder of the Cynics , but it is by no means certain that he would have recognized the term. Aristotle , writing a generation later refers several times to Antisthenes [ 34 ] and his followers "the Antistheneans", [ 30 ] but makes no reference to Cynicism.

Some scholars, drawing on the discovery of defaced coins from Sinope dating from the period — BCE, believe that Diogenes only moved to Athens after the death of Antisthenes, [ 37 ] and it has been argued that the stories linking Antisthenes to Diogenes were invented by the Stoics in a later period in order to provide a succession linking Socrates to Zeno via Antisthenes, Diogenes, and Crates.

Antisthenes certainly adopted a rigorous ascetic lifestyle, [ 41 ] and he developed many of the principles of Cynic philosophy which became an inspiration for Diogenes and later Cynics. It was said that he had laid the foundations of the city which they afterwards built. Contents move to sidebar hide. A disciple of Antisphenes was Diogenes of Sinope.

According to some historians, the doctrine of Antiphenes was not only the beginning of Cynicism, but also influenced the emergence of Stoicism. Antisthenes was born between and B. His father was an Athenian and his mother a Thracian slave. Such an origin made Antiphenes, though free, but illegitimate, deprived him of civil rights. Antisthenes himself, at least outwardly, was not too worried about this.

According to Diogenes of Laertes, he used to point out that 'the Mother of the gods is also a Phrygian', while the Athenians, proud of their origins, 'are no more generous than snails and grasshoppers'. Antisthenes' origins influenced his teachings. His status as an inferior citizen made it easier for the philosopher to reject the social and religious norms generally accepted in Ancient Athens.

According to ancient tradition, Antisthenes spent his entire life in Athens. He left the city only a few times, one of which was to take part in the battle of the Peloponnesian War at Tanagra in B. As a young man Antisphenes studied under the famous "father of rhetoric" and the sophist Gorgias. At this time he became acquainted with the famous sophists Prodicus and Hippius.

Sophistry had a significant influence on the philosophy of early Antisthenes. He even became quite a famous rhetorician. According to Theopompus, "by the sweetness of his speech. Subsequently he joined Socrates and became both his friend and pupil. The German philosopher and historian T. Gompertz emphasized that the poverty and asceticism "glorified" by Antisphenes in no way corresponded to the testimonies about the lessons of the most dear teacher of Ancient Athens - Gorgias.

Apparently, some stroke of fate turned Antisthenes into a poor man. This is when he began his apprenticeship with Socrates. This hypothetical event took place when Antisphenes was already at a mature age. Plato joked caustically about Antiphonus being a "belated" student of Socrates. According to tradition Antisphenes traveled daily about 8 km from Piraeus to Athens to listen to the philosopher.

In Xenophon's Memoirs of Socrates, Antisphenes and Apollodorus are described as disciples who never strayed from Socrates. From the teachings of Socrates, Antisthenes took endurance and impassivity, the conviction that the only good in life is virtue. It must manifest itself in deeds, but by no means in words. According to Plato, Antisphenes was present at the last moments of his teacher's life.

Soon after the execution of Socrates the mood of the Athenians changed. The citizens of the polis repented of having executed one of their most famous fellow citizens: they closed the palaestras and gymnasiums, condemned the official prosecutor, Meletus, to death, and the organizer of the trial, Anita, to banishment. According to one version, Antisthenes contributed to this.

A few days after his teacher's death he met some young men from afar who wanted to talk to Socrates. He not only took them to Anicius, but mockingly announced that Socrates had surpassed him in intellect and virtue. By this he achieved the indignation of those present, which led to the condemnation of Meletus, Anitus and others involved in the condemnation of Socrates.

After the death of Socrates, Antisphenes broke off relations with his mentors and comrades. He began to criticize Gorgias, Plato's theory of ideas, and the famous orator and politician Isocrates. Antisphenes opened his own school in Athens in the gymnasium of the temple of Hercules for underprivileged citizens at Kinosarga, which literally means "White or Sharp Dog".

According to one version, the followers of Antisphenes began to call themselves Cynics, as they studied at Kinosarga. According to another version, Antisthenes himself called himself the Dog. The philosopher's external attributes such as the cloak he wore on his bare body in all weathers, his staff and bag, corresponded to this image.

The teachings of Antisthenes began to attract the lower and disadvantaged classes of society. According to ancient tradition, the disciple of Antisphenes was Diogenes. Modern scholars doubt the validity of this statement. Thus, D. Dudley believed that Diogenes moved from Sinope to Athens in the s, that is, after the death of Antisphenes. Legend has it that the philosopher at first refused to teach Diogenes, but the latter, by his persistence, got his way.

When Antisphenes took a swing at his troublesome pupil with a stick, Diogenes said: "Strike, but you will not find a stick so strong as to chase me away unless you say something. Asked why he was being so cruel, the philosopher compared himself to a doctor and his pupil to a patient: "Doctors are also hard on the sick". Aristotle also mentions some "anti-Sthenes", but does not mention their names.

Modern historians are not aware of specific "antisphenians". It is possible that Aristotle used this term to designate people who, although they accepted those or other aspects of Antisphenes' teachings, but refused the way of life propagated by him. Antisphenes died, presumably around B. According to Diogenes of Laertes, the cause of his death was consumption.

According to one legend, when he exclaimed shortly before his death: "Ah, who will put me out of my misery? Antisphenes objected, "from suffering, not from life! A peculiarity of the teachings of the Cynics was the rejection of norms of behavior. Disregard for the appearance and opinion of the crowd became the "visiting card" of the representatives of the Cynic school.

For Antisthenes and his followers, the guarantee of happiness was following the laws of virtue, which implied not only freedom from the power of the ideals and moral values of society, but also freedom from their own motives and passions. Antisphenes did not deny pleasure, but saw in the pursuit of it the main obstacle to virtue. At the same time the philosopher ridiculed and refuted the basic moral values of the ancient Athenians, such as purity of origin, religious beliefs and the foundations of democracy.

In the philosophy of Antisthenes we can distinguish five components - dialectics and logic, ethics, theology, politics, pedagogy, subordinated to the principle of radical asceticism, based on natural and natural norms. In this direction, the teachings of Antisthenes represented a synthesis of sophistry and the Socratic principle of self-restraint.

The logic of the Sophists was directed toward the outside world, toward convincing others, while, according to Antiphonus, philosophy should teach the individual to understand his own feelings. The logical paradoxes of Antisthenes are not related to the sophistic substitution of concepts, but to the Logos. It was Antisthenes who first defined it: "the logos is that which, explains what something is or is".

According to the doctrine of the philosopher, "only one thing can be said about one thing, namely its own name alone". Polemicizing with Plato, Antisphenes denied the theory of ideas: "I see a horse, but I do not see a horse. Antismoking Movement in France. Antismoking Movement From Antismoking Movement Before Antislavery Songs. Antislavery Literature: An Overview.

Antislavery Literature. Antislavery Arguments: An Overview. Antislavery Arguments. Antishoplifting Tag. Antiserum and Antitoxin. Antiseptic and Aseptic Techniques Are Developed. Antisepsis and Sterilization. Antistia fl. Antisubmarine Warfare Systems. Antitank Weapons. Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act Gorgias taught the young Antisthenes, the art of rhetoric and other valuable skills that were to help the budding thinker later.

With Gorgias and the Sophists, he found common cause: the need to reform the society. Once, he was criticized by an Athenian noble for trying to pursue higher studies, despite his proletarian lineage. Ignoring the scorn of Athenians, Antisthenes continued to seek higher education and knowledge. At the time, Socrates was rising to eminence as an eccentric and odious yet innovative and venerated teacher in Athens.

The allurement of Socratic teachings proved too compelling for Antisthenes, who went to see the great teacher in action, during one of his fabled public meetings. The eccentric Socrates, elated at finding a new, ardent follower, welcomed Antisthenes immediately. His acceptance by Socrates caused discomfiture of other disciples such as Plato and Xenophon, among others- who were of aristocratic lineage: They felt it belittling to be peers with Antisthenes whose family was considered alien and insignificant in ancient Athens.

Antisthenes followed Socrates ardently, much to the chagrin of Plato. Antisthenes, by now armed with Socratic thoughts, Sophist principles and his doctrines began teaching from the Cynosarges gymnasium, on the periphery of Athens. Antisthenes quoted his master Socrates as an epitome of virtue. He taught the characteristic of being virtuous leads to copious contentment and happiness, as was amply demonstrated by Socrates through his eccentric yet simple life.

Antisthenes further preaches that virtue is a successful culmination of good deeds that can be achieved without proclamation of noble intentions and sans immense learning. Thus, a wise person is self-sufficient, content and happy. Antisthenes allegedly defends people having a bad reputation and compares it with physical hardship. Antisthenes possibly attempts to personify Socrates who was considered a stark lunatic and iconoclast by many due to his rants against Athenian definitions of knowledge and wisdom, during his life.