ANTISTHENES

ANTISTHENES

Athens, 444 - 366 B.C.
THE GAIN FROM PHILOSOPHY IS TO BE ABLE TO COMMUNICATE WITH YOURSELF
THE GAIN FROM PHILOSOPHY IS TO BE ABLE TO COMMUNICATE WITH YOURSELF - ANTISTHENES

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Eminent philosopher of ancient Greece. He was born in Athens, date unknown, to an Athenian father and a Thracian mother. He was contemporary with Plato and older than him. He was a student of Gorgias and later a friend and loyal admirer of Socrates. After the death of his great teacher, he founded a philosophical school near Kynosarges Gymnasium. From this name his followers were called Cynics and their heresy Cynicism. Diogenes the Sinopeus was a particularly famous student of his.

Socrates admired him for his temperate and almost ascetic life, his quiet independence and strength of character. In the dialectical debates he tried to overturn Socrates' definition of general concepts. That is to say, he fought against Plato's theory of ideas, and admitted as real only the partial. Only what we see, touch or otherwise feel really exists (empiricist doctrine).

General concepts according to Antisthenes are non-existent (horse I see, horsehood I do not see) and each concept means only one thing. From this the philosopher concludes that no subject can be assigned a different meaning, and the only correct judgments are tautological (A is A). It is not correct, e.g., to say gold is blond, but gold is gold, not man is mortal but mortal is mortal.

For this reason, Antisthenes also rejected the definition based on the essential features. These teachings were willingly accepted by the Cynics. And from these the tendency of the Cynics to make themselves completely independent of the needs of the outside world, reducing their needs to a minimum, practicing to endure all privation and all pain, and considering pleasures and especially pleasure as the greatest evils.

Quotes


  1. THE GAIN FROM PHILOSOPHY IS TO BE ABLE TO COMMUNICATE WITH YOURSELF
  2. REASON IS THAT WHICH SHOWS WHAT WAS OR, WHAT SOMETHING IS
  3. WE SHOULD ASSOCIATE WITH WOMEN WHO WILL OWE US GRATITUDE
  4. IF YOU HAVE A PRETTY WOMAN YOU WILL HAVE HER IN COMMON, IF SHE'S UGLY YOU WILL HAVE PUNISHMENT
  5. IT IS ROYAL TO BE THOUGHT OF NEGATIVELY, ONE WHO DOES GOOD
  6. THE HIGHEST HUMAN HAPPINESS IS TO DIE HAPPY
  7. THOSE WHO WANT TO BE IMMORTAL MUST BE PIOUS AND JUST IN THEIR LIFE
  8. JUST AS IRON IS DESTROYED BY RUST, SO THE ENVIOUS ARE DESTROYED BY THEIR OWN CHARACTER
  9. REPUBLICS ARE DESTROYED WHEN THEY CAN'T DISCRIMINATE BETWEEN THE INSIGNIFICANT AND THE GREAT
  10. WHEN YOU'RE PRAISED WORRY LEST YOU'VE DONE SOMETHING WRONG
  11. BROTHERS LIVING TOGETHER IN HARMONY IS THE STRONGEST OF ALL WALLS
  12. OUR PROVISIONS FOR TRAVEL SHOULD BE SUCH THAT, EVEN IF WE WRECKED, WILL ALLOW US TO SWIM
  13. IT IS BETTER TO DEAL WITH CROWS THAN FLATTERES. THE FIRST EAT YOU DEAD, THE SECOND ALIVE
  14. THE GREATEST LEARNING IS KNOWING HOW TO REMOVE IGNORANCE
  15. WE SHOULD BE MORE PATIENT WHEN THEY SPEAK BAD OF US THAN WHEN THEY THROW STONES ON US
  16. KINDNESS AND VIRTUE ARE IDENTICAL CONCEPTS
  17. VIRTUE ALONE IS SUFFICIENT TO BRING HAPPINESS
  18. THE WISE IS SELF-SUFFICIENT BECAUSE HE OWNS EVERYTHING OTHERS HAVE
  19. BAD REPUTATION IS GOOD AND IT IS THE SAME AS PAIN
  20. WHEN THE WISE ENGAGES IN POLITICS, HE WILL NOT FOLLOW THE LAWS IN EXISTENCE BUT THE LAW OF VIRTUE
  21. THE WISE MAN WILL MARRY TO HAVE CHILDREN BY RELATIONSHIPS WITH THE SMARTEST WOMEN
  22. THE WISE WILL FALL IN LOVE BECAUSE ONLY HE KNOWS WHO WE SHOULD FALL IN LOVE WITH
  23. TO THE WISE, NOTHING IS STRANGE OR IMPOSSIBLE
  24. THE KIND PERSON IS LOVABLE
  25. IMPORTANT PERSONS ARE FRIENDS
  26. WE SHOULD MAKE ALLIES THOSE WHO ARE BOTH BRAVE AND JUST
  27. VIRTUE IS AN IRREVOCABLE WEAPON
  28. IT IS BETTER TO FIGHT ALL THE BAD WITH A FEW GOOD THAN A FEW GOOD WITH A LOT OF BAD
  29. BEWARE OF ENEMIES BECAUSE THEY ARE THE FIRST TO NOTICE OUR MISTAKES
  30. WE SHOULD VALUE THE JUST PERSON MORE THAN THE RELATIVE
  31. VIRTUE IS THE SAME FOR MEN AND WOMEN
  32. GOODS ARE GOOD, BADS ARE HIDEOUS
  33. WE SHOULD CONSIDER ALL EVIL THINGS FOREIGN TO US
  34. THE SAFEST WALL IS PRUDENCE, BECAUSE IT IS NEITHER BROKEN DOWN NOR BETRAYED
  35. WALLS MUST BE BUILT BY OUR OWN FREEDOM OF THOUGHT
  36. IN ORDER TO BE GOOD AND WORTHFUL, WE MUST LEARN FROM THE EXPERTS THAT WE CAN REMOVE THE EVILS WE HAVE
  37. I LEARNED TO COMMUNICATE WITH MYSELF THROUGH WISDOM
  38. THE MOST NECESSARY OF ALL LESSONS IS TO UNLEARN THE EVILS
  39. VIRTUE BELONGS TO WORKS AND DOESN'T NEED MANY WORDS OR LESSONS
  40. VIRTUE CAN BE TAUGHT
  41. I'M SEARCHING TO FIND A MAN
  42. VIRTUE IS ENOUGH TO MAKE YOU HAPPY
  43. THE LIVING TOGETHER OF BELOVED BROTHERS IS STRONGER THAN ANY WALL
  44. HORSE I SEE, HORSEHOOD I DO NOT SEE