He had written to someone to try and procure a cottage for him. When this man was a long time about it, he took for his abode the tub in the Metron, as he himself explains in his letters.
And in summer he used to roll in it over hot sand, while in winter he used to embrace statues covered with snow, using every means of inuring himself to hardship.
—Diogenes Laërtius, 6.23
How is this not machismo? I understand doing things for penance, but as this guy was pre-Christian, it doesn't seem as if he'd be doing it for that reason. What separates this from people who want to be tough out of pride?
ReplyDeleteThe Cynics are admittedly too extreme for some, but they pulled no punches, because nothing was more important to them than forming the habits of virtue. I would not assume any vanity in Diogenes, given the story of his life, and I would suggest that the practice of self-discipline and temperance is hardly exclusive to a Christian mindset.
DeleteI didn't mean to suggest it was. The existence of natural law refutes that. I'm just saying that's the only context I understand taking on those mortifications-- it's a defect in my understanding, not a trash on Diogenes. I'm asking because this, just this small section, makes me think of tough guy macho mentality more than it does virtue.
DeleteI don't know much about the cynics. They can be as extreme as they like, I'm just trying to understand the end goal.
To put it more succinctly: why does purposefully excluding all comfort equal virtue? I genuinely don't understand, and I'd like to. I understand how it can be motivated by love of God or neighbor, but not in and of itself.
ReplyDeleteYes, the severity of someone like Diogenes can be unsettling!
DeleteThe goal is, quite simply, to be human, and to do so without any hesitation. Without a strict mastery of self, we are neglecting the one thing for which we were created, to be our own agents of good.
The comforts are not the problem; being attached to the comforts is the problem, and making them a condition for happiness is one of the greatest sources of vice.
Think of it perhaps, like keeping physically fit. You might go for a walk or a run, or go to the gym, and that will take off a few excess pounds and increase your overall health.
But why settle for mediocrity? Think like the athlete, who doesn't just sit on a treadmill for twenty minutes, but spends every waking moment in intense training. Watch a Rocky movie:-) He strives for being the best at what he is called to do, and great achievement demands great sacrifices.
Like constantly exercising a muscle, the denial of pleasures will most certainly toughen the character. Diogenes doesn't hate pleasure, he just doesn't wish to be ruled by it.
And yes, he is like a philosophical "shock jock". This he did to also help his fellows wake from their slumber.
If living well is the goal, then everything else should be subservient to that goal. The Cynics don't tiptoe around that, which is why they thought they were the true followers of Socrates, instead of Plato ;-)
Ok. The discipline thing I can understand, as well as over acting to make a point (the second is actually a pretty important teaching technique for preschoolers, lol).
DeleteThanks. :)