Abstract
Abstract
For Diogenes, training the body was a crucial means for achieving the twin goals of self-sufficiency and freedom. In addition to insisting on the virtue of frugality, Diogenes led a life in accord with “nature.” Traditionally in Greek thought, men were placed between animals and the gods, and philosophers had held that human beings should aspire to divinity. Diogenes thought men ranked below both animals and gods and should aspire instead to the self-sufficiency, freedom, and lack of social cant and hypocrisy displayed by animals. Indeed, he and the Cynics became identified with the dog (kyōn) and with many of the complex roles played by dogs in human society. Diogenes called into question all aspects of the body governed by strong cultural conventions—sexuality, athletics, clothing, hygiene, punishment, et cetera—by his famously unfettered speech (parrhēsia) and dog-like way of life, using his own shameless bodily practices to illustrate Cynic ideals of freedom and self-sufficiency.
Publisher
Oxford University PressNew York
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