Diogenes: The Rebellious Life and Revolutionary Philosophy of the Original Cynic

The life and thought of Diogenes the Cynic, an iconoclastic philosopher who pioneered a brash and free-thinking vision of life that inspired the philosophy of Stoicism

In his own day, the ancient philosopher Diogenes the Cynic had a reputation for eccentricity, dispensing wisdom from a clay pot in the marketplace and relieving himself in public. Since his death in 323 BCE, devoted followers passing on his ideas have made him famous the world over, but often in distorted, sanitized form.

In Diogenes, classicist Inger N.I. Kuin scours all existing evidence of Diogenes and his followers to offer an in-depth account of Diogenes’s life and thought, revealing a man whose innovative ideas about power, death, nature, and the body have much to teach the contemporary world. He pioneered a vision of simplicity and autonomy in his day-to-day life, stressing the importance of living in the here and now, and of always thinking for oneself. Diogenes stands apart as history’s first recorded critic of slavery and a proud exile from polite society whose challenging thought proved foundational for the Stoics and their successors.

Diogenes rehabilitates Diogenes as a compelling thinker for the twenty-first century, one who demands that we look at our society with fresh eyes and be unafraid of change—starting with ourselves.