He was renowned, for example, for public masturbation. Plato's description was apt: like Socrates, Diogenes called his fellow-citizens to account but the ways in which he did so were more extreme. And he had a sharp awareness of the foolishness of everyday life. Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons.ĭiogenes was a philosopher who mixed extravagant showmanship with a taste for ribald comedy. When people asked him what he was doing, he said, 'I'm searching for an honest man.' Image from UK Office of War Information 1943-5. Another much-retold anecdote is that he went around in full daylight holding up a lamp. He allegedly described him as 'Socrates with a screw loose.' And Diogenes's behaviour was admittedly bizarre. Plato was, unsurprisingly, not impressed by Diogenes. But Diogenes refuted it by plucking a chicken, bringing it to Plato’s Academy, plopping it down and proclaiming, ‘There’s Plato’s Man for you!’ The definition was generally well received. In one famous story about Diogenes, Plato defined Man as a featherless biped. In the ancient Greek world, the philosopher Diogenes the Cynic was even more well-known than Socrates for his foolish wisdom.
The Wise Fool is someone who, in their search for wisdom, appears foolish in the eyes of the world. Being both wise and a fool, he was able to fool with those who claimed wisdom for themselves, and in fooling with them, he could demonstrate that they too were fools - only more foolish fools than he was himself. Arguably, Socrates was both a fool (he was ignorant) and wise (he knew he was ignorant). This history goes back at least as far as Socrates. The idea of the Wise Fool has a long history. Looking for the light: The wise fool and the lamp So when thinking through what it means to be wise, we are going to have to ask what it means to be foolish. And also we know that for the Zhuangzi there is something wise in giving up in the pursuit of wisdom. We already know that Socrates was a self-confessed know-nothing. Instead, it seems that for some philosophers, at least, there is a kind of wisdom in foolishness. One reason for this is that throughout the history of philosophy, the relationship between wisdom and foolishness has not been one of simple opposition. If philosophy has always been preoccupied with wisdom, its relationship with the opposite of wisdom-foolishness-has always been a vexed one. So what is the relationship between philosophy and foolishness? But throughout its history, philosophy has also been haunted by wisdom's opposite: foolishness. Alexander once heard of him and decided to grace him with the imperial presence–Diogenes was warming himself in the sun and order him to “quit blocking my sun”.Philosophy is the love of wisdom. The legend is that Diogenes lived in a large storage container, whether barrel or large urn is not known, but the reference is to barrels, which were supplanting the giant shipping urns at that time. Better to direct people to Diogenes, and have some fun at the rubes’ expense. And, let’s face it, Aristotle had been tutor to Alexander the Great– It wouldn’t be good for the tourist industry to draw the ire of the imperial court by sending tourists to pester Aristotle. Cynicism derives from the Greek word for dog, and was named for Diogenes habit of leaving his “calling cards” where people would step on them–just like a dog would. (Look, kids, I’m being cynical.) Diogenes was a barking mad homeless man who wandered naked through the streets of Athens. In truth, Diogenes is one of History’s great jokes. They would go up to the inhabitants and ask where they might meet a great philosopher, and the natives would tell them of Diogenes and his philosophy of Cynicism, how he would wander around in the daytime with a lantern, looking for an honest man, and the philosophy tourist would go off in the quest for Diogenes. Once upon a time, in the ancient city of Athens, philosophers roamed the streets, and from far and wide people who sought wisdom would make their varied ways to the city so that they could soak in the rays of the varied philosophical stars.
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