Shooting From The Hip - 41 - Stoic, Stoicism, Cynicism

CYNICISM:philosophy- people are reasoning animals & the purpose of life & the way to gain happiness is to achieve virtue, in agreement with nature,
-The Cynics: rejected all conventions of wealth, power, glory, social recognition, conformity & worldly possessions & even flouted such conventions openly & derisively(in a manner expressing contempt or ridicule)
1st philosopher to outline these themes was Antisthenes, a pupil of Socrates in the late 400s BC - followed by Diogenes, who lived in a ceramic jar on the streets of Athens. Diogenes took Cynicism to its logical extremes with his famous public demonstrations of non-conformity, coming to be seen as the archetypal Cynic philosopher - followed by Crates of Thebes, who gave away a large fortune
PHILOSOPHY- Cynicism is a most striking Hellenistic philosophies - claims to offer people happiness & freedom from suffering in an age of uncertainty
goal of life is eudaimonia & mental clarity or lucidity - literally "freedom from smoke" which signified false belief, mindlessness, folly & conceit

EUDAIMONIA achieved by living in balance with Nature as understood by human reason - ARROGANCE: is caused by false judgments of value (subjectivity), which cause negative emotions, unnatural desires & a vicious character - progress occurs thru thriving & clarity -ascetic practices help one become free from societal influences -depends on self-sufficiency, equanimity(mental calmness, composure & evenness of temper, especially in a difficult situation), arete (excellence or virtue in the full realization of potential or inherent function by a person or thing), love of humanity (philanthropy - love of human beings), parrhesia (boldness or freedom of speech), & indifference to the vicissitudes of life

DIOGENES OF SINOPE: for example, lived by begging, not by doing manual labor - it means deliberately choosing a hard life - Cynics practice shamelessness or impudence & defiance of society: laws, customs & social conventions that people take for granted - Cynic has no property & rejects all conventional values of money, fame, power & reputation - only requires only a bare existence & one can become free by unshackling oneself from any societal conventions
THE CYNIC: way of life - requires continuous training, not just in exercising judgments & mental impressions, but a physical training as well - [Diogenes] - 2 kinds of exercise: mind & body; facilitated the practice of virtue - since the health & vigor are necessary to practice good, depends equally on mind & body - a Cynic would never retreat from society - in fact were to live in public's gaze & be quite indifferent to any insult - a result of their unconventional behavior

The Cynics are said to have invented the idea of cosmopolitanism: when he was asked where he came from, Diogenes replied he was "a citizen of the world" - The ideal Cynic would evangelize; a watchdog of humanity - Cynic philosophy had a major impact on the Hellenistic world, ultimately becoming an important influence for Stoicism

CYNICISM - is characterized by a general distrust of the motives of others - may have a general lack of faith in people due to ambition, desire, greed, gratification, materialism, goals & opinions that a cynic perceives as vain, unobtainable, or ultimately meaningless

STOIC - noun: 1. a member of a school of philosophy founded by Zeno of Citium about 300 b.c. holding that the wise man should be free from passion, unmoved by joy or grief, and submissive to natural law 2. one apparently or professedly indifferent to pleasure or pain

adjective: 1. of relating to Stoics or their doctrines Stoic logic 2. not affected by or showing passion or feeling especially: firmly restraining response to pain or distress

STOICISM -1. endurance of pain or hardship without the display of feelings & without complaint 2. an ancient Greek school of philosophy founded at Athens -school taught that virtue, highest good,: based on knowledge; the wise live in harmony with Reason that governs the vicissitudes of fortune & pleasure & pain
Stoicism is a school of Hellenistic philosophy that flourished: Ancient Greece & Ancient Rome

ZENO OF CITIUM (334 – 262 BCE) was a Hellenistic philosopher from Citium, Cyprus - founder of Stoic school of philosophy, which he taught in Athens (300 BCE) - based on the moral ideas of Cynics - emphasis on goodness & peace of mind gained from living a life of virtue -very popular & flourished as major school of philosophy - was revived in the Renaissance as Neostoicism & in the current era as Modern Stoicism

STOIC ETHICS - good is the state of the soul: in wisdom & self-control - one strives to be free of passions, emotions - means using logic, reason & understanding -logos or universal reason, inherent in all things - Greek word pathos was a wide-ranging term indicating one suffering - Stoics used the word to discuss many common emotions such as anger, fear & excessive joy