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Cynics
The term cynic originates from the Greek word for dog (kyôn), the most shameless animal according to Greek proverbs; it was originally attributed derisively to candid and shameless behavior. Diogenes of Sinope (412/403–324/321 BCE), however, adopted it as a positive description of the type of living he was advocating, which was characterized by the devaluation of every aspect of human convention and political structure. Diminishing contemporary philosophical schools for their intellectualism and systematization, Diogenes was preaching for a way of life, and his example became the source for a variety of attitudes and degrees of adoption. Cynics were critical of social and political arrangements, professing instead a cosmopolitan utopia and communal anarchism.
“Eudemonistic” self-sufficiency (individual “human flourishing”) and primitive asceticism are the twin pillars of Cynicism. ...
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