Diogenes of Sinope: the obstinate philosopher Among the Greek philosophers, we have many well-known ones, such as Aristotle, Plato, Socrates and so on. Most of these are common knowledge, but many are forgotten by ordinary people. One of these philosophers is Diogenes, commonly called the Cynic because he is one of the founders of cynicism. Many who would read this would stare at that name with confusion or perhaps disgust. This opinion, probably, will not change since this man could hardly be compared with our other philosophers. Most would never know about him due to his exile, his strange tendencies, and his major philosophies. The exile is one of the clearer parts of his timeline and is a good warm-up before the grittier aspects of him. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay To begin with Diogenes, we must begin with his birth year which is believed to be 412 BC His father worked with money but, much with much of ancient history, we are not sure exactly how he worked specifically. Diogenes worked with his father and thus begins the way he was exiled. Many sources agree that because he believed he needed to "deface the currency", he proceeded to literally deface the currency, either by cutting the face off the "heads" side of the coin or leaving large cut marks on it. Both Diogenes and his father were exiled from Sinope for this and left for Athens but Diogenes, as he is at the center of this, chooses to use this opportunity to become a philosophical thinker and adopt a life of asceticism. He found that most people in the cities were corrupted by the customs of mankind. He was extremely well known for sleeping in public buildings, eating in public markets (which was forbidden in ancient Greece), and even sleeping in a bathtub. Both in ancient times and now, many people found Diogenes quite funny, especially philosophers. Philosophers and nobles found him so funny, in fact, that they threw bones at him and called him a dog. Diogenes, not being the type to resist criticism, decided that the most logical response would be to urinate on the pitchers, similar to how a dog would. As stated many times before, Diogenes is considered a cynic and is known for carrying around a lantern, surrounded by dogs. The lantern was used to help him find an “honest man” who is actually, by his standards, a human being. He had many quirks, excluding those we have already talked about, such as disgust for good manners, which he equated with lying, belief in personal excellence and a very miserable life, similar to that of a homeless person. Even though he did all these strange things and, in some cases, things that we would classify as public indecency, disgusting things, he was loved by the community. There are many stories of him meeting Alexander the Great and, well, acting as usual towards the ruler. He was, after all, a great philosopher, but he wasn't often talked about for clear reasons. Diogenes, as a person in history, is an interesting topic. He was considered a great philosopher and had several interesting and entertaining ideas. When you hear about him, you clearly understand why he isn't talked about in schools, but understanding his impact is slightly more difficult. What makes it even more difficult is that ancient cynicism is very far from current cynicism. From both a civilian and student perspective, I can't really find a real reason why Diogenes should be added to our history books, outside of a little sidebar. Please note: this is just an example..