Steve Jobs in his first Villa. Just a stereo, a lamb and a matress

Understand minimalism to understand cynicism

When people hear the word "virtue," they think someone is trying to take the fun out of life. When they think of cynicism, they think of Diogenes, who allegedly lived in a barrel, destitute, and owned nothing. And "minimalism" is also associated by many with…
Nietzsche from whom the sentence comes "You go to the woman, do not forget the whip" lets himself be harnessed here by a woman in front of a carriage. The woman with the whip in her hand. With this picture Nietzsche says more about himself, than with 1000 words. He shows HIS will to might, here PASSIVELY. The picture was a scandal! Nietzsche has been a dissident

The Will to Might is a will to Truth

Nietzsche's famous formula of the will to might is often social Darwinistically misunderstood as the Hobbesian will to brutal ruthless egoism; and Nietzsche accordingly as a pioneer of German National Socialism. But his thinking is much more like that of us Cynics than like that…
Diogenes war auch dafür berüchtigt, Leuten den Mittelfinger zu zeigen

Diogenes, the political not correct cosmopolitan

Today, it is politically considered good form to be a cosmopolitan. Diogenes was a cynic and a cosmopolitan. He was even the first cosmopolitan, he coined the term. But Diogenes was anything but politically correct. When people asked in which Greek city-state he was a…
Painting of a fictional slave market in the Orient. Bearded men examine a naked woman.

Slavery – Why not?

The most famous cynic of antiquity, Diogenes, did not just live in a barrel. He owned slaves, for example. And he himself felt into slavery. The ancient Greeks, even if they themselves were affected, did not seem to have had a very big problem with…
Is shamelessness a Cynic virtue?

Is shamelessness a Cynic virtue?

In short, the answer is no! Diogenes has often shown himself to be very shameless Not only the gossip press, but also philosophers often seem to be sensationalists. This may be the reason why, when it comes to cynicism in school or university and Diogenes,…
Hippies

Cynics: Hippies or Heracles?

If you see illustrations of Diogenes today, he looks like you would imagine a hippie to look, scruffy, long hair, loose.Even if some of this image is true, I would like to start by saying that the role model of Diogenes and the ancient cynics…
Rather, a cow goes through the eye of a needle….

Rather, a cow goes through the eye of a needle….

The claim that Cynics preach and live unconditional poverty is as false as it seems ineradicable. It is based on misunderstandings. Cynicism knows only one virtue From a philosophical point of view, Cynicism is extremely minimalist. It knows only one virtue: self-realization, understood as the…
Jesus Erasmus Nietzsche 3 cynics

Jesus, Erasmus, Nietzsche: Three Famous Cynics.

If we ever hear about Cynism at all, for example in the media or in philosophy classes in schools, then usually only Diogenes is mentioned. Or at least it is mentioned that Cynism was famous for about 1000 years and then disappeared from history. The…
A video introduction to cynicism from TED

A video introduction to cynicism from TED

There is some stuff in the video that is not quite right. Diogenes was not necessarily the first cynic. And he also did not live constantly in a barrel, or virtually on the street. During a ship voyage, he fell into slavery and was then…
Socrates was not an atheist, on the contrary. But he was judged for atheism.

Socrates and our God

Socrates brought about a "Copernican turn" about 2000 years before Copernicus. OK. That is not possible. But if it could, then he would have deserved this proud attribute. Socrates is the father of Cynicism. Without Socrates no Diogenes, no Jesus, no Nietzsche, no Klaus. The…