Philosopher
Diogenes of Sinope
dye-AH-juh-neez of sih-NOH-pee
Ethics
An ancient Greek philosopher and the school's most famous exemplar, who took Cynic principles to their most provocative extreme: he lived in a large ceramic jar in the Athenian marketplace, walked the streets by daylight carrying a lit lamp and explaining he was looking for an honest man, and treated shameless public simplicity as a philosophical demonstration that convention, not nature, made most human wants necessary.
Facts
Defining MomentExiled from Sinope for defacing currency, he settled in Athens and made his own homelessness and self-sufficiency into a public philosophical performance, coining the term kosmopolites, citizen of the world, when asked where he was from. 1 TraditionAncient Greek philosophy, Cynicism 1 Disputed
Birth YearAncient sources disagree on Diogenes's exact birth year; c. 412 or c. 404 BCE are both defended. Diogenes of Sinope
Filter Results1 entry
Connections
Associated With
Source Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Founded By
Source Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
In Branch
Source Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Sources
1. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Stanford University, Center for the Study of Language and Informations.v. Ancient Ethical Theory (Cynicism)
Diogenes the Cynic, the central figure, is famous for living in a wine jar (Diogenes Laertius [= DL] VI 23).
- Associated With: Cynicism
- In Branch: Ethics
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