We explain what cynicism is and what a cynical person is like. Also, who were the cynical philosophers in antiquity.
Cynical philosophers were suspicious of all kinds of social norms.What is cynicism?
A person Cynic is a person who acts or speaks falsely, but does so in a shameless, shameless way. In other words, a cynic is one who talks about something knowing that it is not true, or who does something knowing that it is not the right thing to do, without representing any type of suffering. moral, given that he has a disconsolate and pessimistic view of the society human.
Consider, by way of example, a politician who, in a interview On national television, he defends the need for fair and transparent legal procedures, and he does so with a smile: he laughs because he knows that he himself is involved in unfair and corrupt legal proceedings, but still says what he says. Similar attitude of impudence, impudence or shamelessness, is what we normally call cynical attitude.
Cynicism is often frowned upon in our society. It is often listed as a form of egocentrism and associated with a pessimistic view of human nature.
However, it can also be understood as an indication of intelligence: characters Cynics are often those who understand that the world is not fair, who can see the hypocrisy of the world, but instead of raising their voices against it, they choose to laugh, to poke fun, or to be ironic.
The cynicism comes from Classical Antiquity, as we will see below, but it also had important cultists in the Modern age, who in their works used the irony, the absurdity and the mockery to lash out at the supposed kind nature of the human being. Among them are the names of William Shakespeare, Oscar Wilde, Geoffrey Chaucer or François Rebelais, among others.
Cynicism in philosophy
The term "cynical" (and much of its meaning) comes from Ancient Greece, and particularly from the cynical school of philosophy founded by Antisthenes (444-365 BC) In this school, initially called the Minor Socratic School, the greatest exponent was Diogenes of Sinope (412-323 BC), nicknamed “Diogenes the Cynic” or “Diogenes the Dog. ”.
These nicknames come from the Greek word for dog: "kynós”, From where it is also born kynikós, I mean, cynical. The reason for this is that, when putting their beliefs into practice, these philosophers chose to live life "like dogs": distrust the institutions social, of the teaching and all kinds of conventions and social norms, which were supposed to be imposed on human beings against their nature.
Therefore, the cynics were a mixture of beggars and haughty philosophers, always ready for mockery, irony and vulgar attitudes, since they considered themselves a living reminder of what was deep down inside. humanity, below all those layers of supposed civilization. Hence, they were nicknamed "the dogs", since they lived as such.
This is how the Greek writer Alcifron (2nd century BC) portrays them in his Cards:
“… A horrible and painful sight to see, when he shakes his dirty hair and looks at you insolently. He appears half naked, with a threadbare cape, a hanging bag and, in his hands, a mace made of wild pear wood. He goes barefoot, does not wash and lacks trade and profit ”.
The Cynics were a popular movement in Ancient Greece and later in many of the great cities of Ancient Rome. Some of its best known exponents, apart from Antisthenes and Diogenes, were Crates of Thebes, Menippus of Gadara, Onesícritus of Astypalea, and one of the first Greek philosophers in history: Hyparchy.