The Baha’i teachings embrace the prospect of world citizenship, just as Diogenes and the cosmopolitans did – but Baha’is actively work to make world citizenship a reality, rather than just a philosophical concept. Ultimately it strongly influenced the philosophers and thinkers Immanuel Kant, Jacques Derrida, Thich Nhat Hanh and many others and it ultimately inspired the formation of the growing Global Citizens movement. It helped start the philosophical school of Stoicism, which held that every person belongs to two communities: the local community of their birth and the entire human community. His radical claim of world citizenship contained a pointed criticism of the warring city-state system, and impacted the entire civilized world as it spread. Suddenly people were calling themselves “cosmopolitans” – cosmos meaning the entire known world and polites meaning citizen. When Diogenes said “I am not an Athenian or a Greek, but a citizen of the world,” it started a mass movement. ![]() He told the King, who had enslaved entire populations, “I am searching for the bones of your father but cannot distinguish them from those of a slave.” When he met the warrior, conqueror and “King of Kings” Alexander the Great, Diogenes was contemplating a pile of human bones. The famous story about the lantern? Diogenes probably carried it through Athens during the day, to satirically point out the fact that no honest man could be found in Greece, day or night. Today people might think of someone like Diogenes as a slightly deranged homeless person, but in his day he satirized Plato and disrupted his lectures, ridiculed the corrupt social values and institutions of Greek society, and publicly mocked Alexander the Great. He flaunted convention, rejected possessions, wore no shoes even in the winter, and slept in a large clay jar in the city square. Probably influenced by Buddhist ideals and the early Christian teachings, Diogenes’ philosophy of cynicism spread widely across the Roman Empire in the First Century AD.ĭiogenes made his philosophy his lifestyle. ![]() Diogenes believed that human beings could only gain happiness by detaching themselves from desire – for things like fame, wealth, sex and power – and leading a simple, natural, possession-free existence. He felt that the purpose of life involved acquiring human virtues and living in harmony with nature – and he felt the way to do those things was to reject conventional society and morality, and to express his philosophical ideas through deeds rather than words. The Cynical school of Greek philosophy began with Diogenes. The anecdotes come from Diogenes Laërtius' book Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers and some other sources.Diogenes of Sinope (the town in Turkey where he was born) also came to be known as Diogenes the Cynic – and not the kind of cynic you’re most likely to recognize. None of Diogenes' writings have survived, but there are some details of his life from anecdotes. Zeno worked on stoicism, which became one of the main schools of Greek philosophy. There he explained cynicism to Crates, who taught it to Zeno of Citium. Diogenes was also noted for having publicly mocked Alexander the Great.ĭiogenes helped Antisthenes create cynicism, a philosophy that focuses on living a simple life without the need for money, fame, power, or possessions.ĭiogenes was captured by pirates and sold into slavery. He sabotaged Plato's lectures, distracting attenders by bringing food and eating during the discussions. He criticized Plato, disputed his interpretation of Socrates. He used to carry a lamp during the day, and claimed he was looking for an honest man. He became notorious for his philosophical stunts. He begged for a living and often slept in a large ceramic jar in the marketplace. This gave him a basis to criticize the social values and institutions of the corrupt, confused society he saw around him.ĭiogenes made a virtue of poverty. He had a simple life-style and behaviour. He was born in the town of Sinope (now called Sinop, Turkey) around the year 412 BC and died in the city of Corinth, Greece on the year 323 BC.Īfter being exiled for debasing the currency, he moved to Athens. ![]() Diogenes of Sinope (or Diogenes the Cynic) was an Ancient Greek philosopher.
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