46 results
Contributors
-
- By Rose Teteki Abbey, K. C. Abraham, David Tuesday Adamo, LeRoy H. Aden, Efrain Agosto, Victor Aguilan, Gillian T. W. Ahlgren, Charanjit Kaur AjitSingh, Dorothy B E A Akoto, Giuseppe Alberigo, Daniel E. Albrecht, Ruth Albrecht, Daniel O. Aleshire, Urs Altermatt, Anand Amaladass, Michael Amaladoss, James N. Amanze, Lesley G. Anderson, Thomas C. Anderson, Victor Anderson, Hope S. Antone, María Pilar Aquino, Paula Arai, Victorio Araya Guillén, S. Wesley Ariarajah, Ellen T. Armour, Brett Gregory Armstrong, Atsuhiro Asano, Naim Stifan Ateek, Mahmoud Ayoub, John Alembillah Azumah, Mercedes L. García Bachmann, Irena Backus, J. Wayne Baker, Mieke Bal, Lewis V. Baldwin, William Barbieri, António Barbosa da Silva, David Basinger, Bolaji Olukemi Bateye, Oswald Bayer, Daniel H. Bays, Rosalie Beck, Nancy Elizabeth Bedford, Guy-Thomas Bedouelle, Chorbishop Seely Beggiani, Wolfgang Behringer, Christopher M. Bellitto, Byard Bennett, Harold V. Bennett, Teresa Berger, Miguel A. Bernad, Henley Bernard, Alan E. Bernstein, Jon L. Berquist, Johannes Beutler, Ana María Bidegain, Matthew P. Binkewicz, Jennifer Bird, Joseph Blenkinsopp, Dmytro Bondarenko, Paulo Bonfatti, Riet en Pim Bons-Storm, Jessica A. Boon, Marcus J. Borg, Mark Bosco, Peter C. Bouteneff, François Bovon, William D. Bowman, Paul S. Boyer, David Brakke, Richard E. Brantley, Marcus Braybrooke, Ian Breward, Ênio José da Costa Brito, Jewel Spears Brooker, Johannes Brosseder, Nicholas Canfield Read Brown, Robert F. Brown, Pamela K. Brubaker, Walter Brueggemann, Bishop Colin O. Buchanan, Stanley M. Burgess, Amy Nelson Burnett, J. Patout Burns, David B. Burrell, David Buttrick, James P. Byrd, Lavinia Byrne, Gerado Caetano, Marcos Caldas, Alkiviadis Calivas, William J. Callahan, Salvatore Calomino, Euan K. Cameron, William S. Campbell, Marcelo Ayres Camurça, Daniel F. Caner, Paul E. Capetz, Carlos F. Cardoza-Orlandi, Patrick W. Carey, Barbara Carvill, Hal Cauthron, Subhadra Mitra Channa, Mark D. Chapman, James H. Charlesworth, Kenneth R. Chase, Chen Zemin, Luciano Chianeque, Philip Chia Phin Yin, Francisca H. Chimhanda, Daniel Chiquete, John T. Chirban, Soobin Choi, Robert Choquette, Mita Choudhury, Gerald Christianson, John Chryssavgis, Sejong Chun, Esther Chung-Kim, Charles M. A. Clark, Elizabeth A. Clark, Sathianathan Clarke, Fred Cloud, John B. Cobb, W. Owen Cole, John A Coleman, John J. Collins, Sylvia Collins-Mayo, Paul K. Conkin, Beth A. Conklin, Sean Connolly, Demetrios J. Constantelos, Michael A. Conway, Paula M. Cooey, Austin Cooper, Michael L. Cooper-White, Pamela Cooper-White, L. William Countryman, Sérgio Coutinho, Pamela Couture, Shannon Craigo-Snell, James L. Crenshaw, David Crowner, Humberto Horacio Cucchetti, Lawrence S. Cunningham, Elizabeth Mason Currier, Emmanuel Cutrone, Mary L. Daniel, David D. Daniels, Robert Darden, Rolf Darge, Isaiah Dau, Jeffry C. Davis, Jane Dawson, Valentin Dedji, John W. de Gruchy, Paul DeHart, Wendy J. Deichmann Edwards, Miguel A. De La Torre, George E. Demacopoulos, Thomas de Mayo, Leah DeVun, Beatriz de Vasconcellos Dias, Dennis C. Dickerson, John M. Dillon, Luis Miguel Donatello, Igor Dorfmann-Lazarev, Susanna Drake, Jonathan A. Draper, N. Dreher Martin, Otto Dreydoppel, Angelyn Dries, A. J. Droge, Francis X. D'Sa, Marilyn Dunn, Nicole Wilkinson Duran, Rifaat Ebied, Mark J. Edwards, William H. Edwards, Leonard H. Ehrlich, Nancy L. Eiesland, Martin Elbel, J. Harold Ellens, Stephen Ellingson, Marvin M. Ellison, Robert Ellsberg, Jean Bethke Elshtain, Eldon Jay Epp, Peter C. Erb, Tassilo Erhardt, Maria Erling, Noel Leo Erskine, Gillian R. Evans, Virginia Fabella, Michael A. Fahey, Edward Farley, Margaret A. Farley, Wendy Farley, Robert Fastiggi, Seena Fazel, Duncan S. Ferguson, Helwar Figueroa, Paul Corby Finney, Kyriaki Karidoyanes FitzGerald, Thomas E. FitzGerald, John R. Fitzmier, Marie Therese Flanagan, Sabina Flanagan, Claude Flipo, Ronald B. Flowers, Carole Fontaine, David Ford, Mary Ford, Stephanie A. Ford, Jim Forest, William Franke, Robert M. Franklin, Ruth Franzén, Edward H. Friedman, Samuel Frouisou, Lorelei F. Fuchs, Jojo M. Fung, Inger Furseth, Richard R. Gaillardetz, Brandon Gallaher, China Galland, Mark Galli, Ismael García, Tharscisse Gatwa, Jean-Marie Gaudeul, Luis María Gavilanes del Castillo, Pavel L. Gavrilyuk, Volney P. Gay, Metropolitan Athanasios Geevargis, Kondothra M. George, Mary Gerhart, Simon Gikandi, Maurice Gilbert, Michael J. Gillgannon, Verónica Giménez Beliveau, Terryl Givens, Beth Glazier-McDonald, Philip Gleason, Menghun Goh, Brian Golding, Bishop Hilario M. Gomez, Michelle A. Gonzalez, Donald K. Gorrell, Roy Gottfried, Tamara Grdzelidze, Joel B. Green, Niels Henrik Gregersen, Cristina Grenholm, Herbert Griffiths, Eric W. Gritsch, Erich S. Gruen, Christoffer H. Grundmann, Paul H. Gundani, Jon P. Gunnemann, Petre Guran, Vidar L. Haanes, Jeremiah M. Hackett, Getatchew Haile, Douglas John Hall, Nicholas Hammond, Daphne Hampson, Jehu J. Hanciles, Barry Hankins, Jennifer Haraguchi, Stanley S. Harakas, Anthony John Harding, Conrad L. Harkins, J. William Harmless, Marjory Harper, Amir Harrak, Joel F. Harrington, Mark W. Harris, Susan Ashbrook Harvey, Van A. Harvey, R. Chris Hassel, Jione Havea, Daniel Hawk, Diana L. Hayes, Leslie Hayes, Priscilla Hayner, S. Mark Heim, Simo Heininen, Richard P. Heitzenrater, Eila Helander, David Hempton, Scott H. Hendrix, Jan-Olav Henriksen, Gina Hens-Piazza, Carter Heyward, Nicholas J. Higham, David Hilliard, Norman A. Hjelm, Peter C. Hodgson, Arthur Holder, M. Jan Holton, Dwight N. Hopkins, Ronnie Po-chia Hsia, Po-Ho Huang, James Hudnut-Beumler, Jennifer S. Hughes, Leonard M. Hummel, Mary E. Hunt, Laennec Hurbon, Mark Hutchinson, Susan E. Hylen, Mary Beth Ingham, H. Larry Ingle, Dale T. Irvin, Jon Isaak, Paul John Isaak, Ada María Isasi-Díaz, Hans Raun Iversen, Margaret C. Jacob, Arthur James, Maria Jansdotter-Samuelsson, David Jasper, Werner G. Jeanrond, Renée Jeffery, David Lyle Jeffrey, Theodore W. Jennings, David H. Jensen, Robin Margaret Jensen, David Jobling, Dale A. Johnson, Elizabeth A. Johnson, Maxwell E. Johnson, Sarah Johnson, Mark D. Johnston, F. Stanley Jones, James William Jones, John R. Jones, Alissa Jones Nelson, Inge Jonsson, Jan Joosten, Elizabeth Judd, Mulambya Peggy Kabonde, Robert Kaggwa, Sylvester Kahakwa, Isaac Kalimi, Ogbu U. Kalu, Eunice Kamaara, Wayne C. Kannaday, Musimbi Kanyoro, Veli-Matti Kärkkäinen, Frank Kaufmann, Léon Nguapitshi Kayongo, Richard Kearney, Alice A. Keefe, Ralph Keen, Catherine Keller, Anthony J. Kelly, Karen Kennelly, Kathi Lynn Kern, Fergus Kerr, Edward Kessler, George Kilcourse, Heup Young Kim, Kim Sung-Hae, Kim Yong-Bock, Kim Yung Suk, Richard King, Thomas M. King, Robert M. Kingdon, Ross Kinsler, Hans G. Kippenberg, Cheryl A. Kirk-Duggan, Clifton Kirkpatrick, Leonid Kishkovsky, Nadieszda Kizenko, Jeffrey Klaiber, Hans-Josef Klauck, Sidney Knight, Samuel Kobia, Robert Kolb, Karla Ann Koll, Heikki Kotila, Donald Kraybill, Philip D. W. Krey, Yves Krumenacker, Jeffrey Kah-Jin Kuan, Simanga R. Kumalo, Peter Kuzmic, Simon Shui-Man Kwan, Kwok Pui-lan, André LaCocque, Stephen E. Lahey, John Tsz Pang Lai, Emiel Lamberts, Armando Lampe, Craig Lampe, Beverly J. Lanzetta, Eve LaPlante, Lizette Larson-Miller, Ariel Bybee Laughton, Leonard Lawlor, Bentley Layton, Robin A. Leaver, Karen Lebacqz, Archie Chi Chung Lee, Marilyn J. Legge, Hervé LeGrand, D. L. LeMahieu, Raymond Lemieux, Bill J. Leonard, Ellen M. Leonard, Outi Leppä, Jean Lesaulnier, Nantawan Boonprasat Lewis, Henrietta Leyser, Alexei Lidov, Bernard Lightman, Paul Chang-Ha Lim, Carter Lindberg, Mark R. Lindsay, James R. Linville, James C. Livingston, Ann Loades, David Loades, Jean-Claude Loba-Mkole, Lo Lung Kwong, Wati Longchar, Eleazar López, David W. Lotz, Andrew Louth, Robin W. Lovin, William Luis, Frank D. Macchia, Diarmaid N. J. MacCulloch, Kirk R. MacGregor, Marjory A. MacLean, Donald MacLeod, Tomas S. Maddela, Inge Mager, Laurenti Magesa, David G. Maillu, Fortunato Mallimaci, Philip Mamalakis, Kä Mana, Ukachukwu Chris Manus, Herbert Robinson Marbury, Reuel Norman Marigza, Jacqueline Mariña, Antti Marjanen, Luiz C. L. Marques, Madipoane Masenya (ngwan'a Mphahlele), Caleb J. D. Maskell, Steve Mason, Thomas Massaro, Fernando Matamoros Ponce, András Máté-Tóth, Odair Pedroso Mateus, Dinis Matsolo, Fumitaka Matsuoka, John D'Arcy May, Yelena Mazour-Matusevich, Theodore Mbazumutima, John S. McClure, Christian McConnell, Lee Martin McDonald, Gary B. McGee, Thomas McGowan, Alister E. McGrath, Richard J. McGregor, John A. McGuckin, Maud Burnett McInerney, Elsie Anne McKee, Mary B. McKinley, James F. McMillan, Ernan McMullin, Kathleen E. McVey, M. Douglas Meeks, Monica Jyotsna Melanchthon, Ilie Melniciuc-Puica, Everett Mendoza, Raymond A. Mentzer, William W. Menzies, Ina Merdjanova, Franziska Metzger, Constant J. Mews, Marvin Meyer, Carol Meyers, Vasile Mihoc, Gunner Bjerg Mikkelsen, Maria Inêz de Castro Millen, Clyde Lee Miller, Bonnie J. Miller-McLemore, Alexander Mirkovic, Paul Misner, Nozomu Miyahira, R. W. L. Moberly, Gerald Moede, Aloo Osotsi Mojola, Sunanda Mongia, Rebeca Montemayor, James Moore, Roger E. Moore, Craig E. Morrison O.Carm, Jeffry H. Morrison, Keith Morrison, Wilson J. Moses, Tefetso Henry Mothibe, Mokgethi Motlhabi, Fulata Moyo, Henry Mugabe, Jesse Ndwiga Kanyua Mugambi, Peggy Mulambya-Kabonde, Robert Bruce Mullin, Pamela Mullins Reaves, Saskia Murk Jansen, Heleen L. Murre-Van den Berg, Augustine Musopole, Isaac M. T. Mwase, Philomena Mwaura, Cecilia Nahnfeldt, Anne Nasimiyu Wasike, Carmiña Navia Velasco, Thulani Ndlazi, Alexander Negrov, James B. Nelson, David G. Newcombe, Carol Newsom, Helen J. Nicholson, George W. E. Nickelsburg, Tatyana Nikolskaya, Damayanthi M. A. Niles, Bertil Nilsson, Nyambura Njoroge, Fidelis Nkomazana, Mary Beth Norton, Christian Nottmeier, Sonene Nyawo, Anthère Nzabatsinda, Edward T. Oakes, Gerald O'Collins, Daniel O'Connell, David W. Odell-Scott, Mercy Amba Oduyoye, Kathleen O'Grady, Oyeronke Olajubu, Thomas O'Loughlin, Dennis T. Olson, J. Steven O'Malley, Cephas N. Omenyo, Muriel Orevillo-Montenegro, César Augusto Ornellas Ramos, Agbonkhianmeghe E. Orobator, Kenan B. Osborne, Carolyn Osiek, Javier Otaola Montagne, Douglas F. Ottati, Anna May Say Pa, Irina Paert, Jerry G. Pankhurst, Aristotle Papanikolaou, Samuele F. Pardini, Stefano Parenti, Peter Paris, Sung Bae Park, Cristián G. Parker, Raquel Pastor, Joseph Pathrapankal, Daniel Patte, W. Brown Patterson, Clive Pearson, Keith F. Pecklers, Nancy Cardoso Pereira, David Horace Perkins, Pheme Perkins, Edward N. Peters, Rebecca Todd Peters, Bishop Yeznik Petrossian, Raymond Pfister, Peter C. Phan, Isabel Apawo Phiri, William S. F. Pickering, Derrick G. Pitard, William Elvis Plata, Zlatko Plese, John Plummer, James Newton Poling, Ronald Popivchak, Andrew Porter, Ute Possekel, James M. Powell, Enos Das Pradhan, Devadasan Premnath, Jaime Adrían Prieto Valladares, Anne Primavesi, Randall Prior, María Alicia Puente Lutteroth, Eduardo Guzmão Quadros, Albert Rabil, Laurent William Ramambason, Apolonio M. Ranche, Vololona Randriamanantena Andriamitandrina, Lawrence R. Rast, Paul L. Redditt, Adele Reinhartz, Rolf Rendtorff, Pål Repstad, James N. Rhodes, John K. Riches, Joerg Rieger, Sharon H. Ringe, Sandra Rios, Tyler Roberts, David M. Robinson, James M. Robinson, Joanne Maguire Robinson, Richard A. H. Robinson, Roy R. Robson, Jack B. Rogers, Maria Roginska, Sidney Rooy, Rev. Garnett Roper, Maria José Fontelas Rosado-Nunes, Andrew C. Ross, Stefan Rossbach, François Rossier, John D. Roth, John K. Roth, Phillip Rothwell, Richard E. Rubenstein, Rosemary Radford Ruether, Markku Ruotsila, John E. Rybolt, Risto Saarinen, John Saillant, Juan Sanchez, Wagner Lopes Sanchez, Hugo N. Santos, Gerhard Sauter, Gloria L. Schaab, Sandra M. Schneiders, Quentin J. Schultze, Fernando F. Segovia, Turid Karlsen Seim, Carsten Selch Jensen, Alan P. F. Sell, Frank C. Senn, Kent Davis Sensenig, Damían Setton, Bal Krishna Sharma, Carolyn J. Sharp, Thomas Sheehan, N. Gerald Shenk, Christian Sheppard, Charles Sherlock, Tabona Shoko, Walter B. Shurden, Marguerite Shuster, B. Mark Sietsema, Batara Sihombing, Neil Silberman, Clodomiro Siller, Samuel Silva-Gotay, Heikki Silvet, John K. Simmons, Hagith Sivan, James C. Skedros, Abraham Smith, Ashley A. Smith, Ted A. Smith, Daud Soesilo, Pia Søltoft, Choan-Seng (C. S.) Song, Kathryn Spink, Bryan Spinks, Eric O. Springsted, Nicolas Standaert, Brian Stanley, Glen H. Stassen, Karel Steenbrink, Stephen J. Stein, Andrea Sterk, Gregory E. Sterling, Columba Stewart, Jacques Stewart, Robert B. Stewart, Cynthia Stokes Brown, Ken Stone, Anne Stott, Elizabeth Stuart, Monya Stubbs, Marjorie Hewitt Suchocki, David Kwang-sun Suh, Scott W. Sunquist, Keith Suter, Douglas Sweeney, Charles H. Talbert, Shawqi N. Talia, Elsa Tamez, Joseph B. Tamney, Jonathan Y. Tan, Yak-Hwee Tan, Kathryn Tanner, Feiya Tao, Elizabeth S. Tapia, Aquiline Tarimo, Claire Taylor, Mark Lewis Taylor, Bishop Abba Samuel Wolde Tekestebirhan, Eugene TeSelle, M. Thomas Thangaraj, David R. Thomas, Andrew Thornley, Scott Thumma, Marcelo Timotheo da Costa, George E. “Tink” Tinker, Ola Tjørhom, Karen Jo Torjesen, Iain R. Torrance, Fernando Torres-Londoño, Archbishop Demetrios [Trakatellis], Marit Trelstad, Christine Trevett, Phyllis Trible, Johannes Tromp, Paul Turner, Robert G. Tuttle, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Peter Tyler, Anders Tyrberg, Justin Ukpong, Javier Ulloa, Camillus Umoh, Kristi Upson-Saia, Martina Urban, Monica Uribe, Elochukwu Eugene Uzukwu, Richard Vaggione, Gabriel Vahanian, Paul Valliere, T. J. Van Bavel, Steven Vanderputten, Peter Van der Veer, Huub Van de Sandt, Louis Van Tongeren, Luke A. Veronis, Noel Villalba, Ramón Vinke, Tim Vivian, David Voas, Elena Volkova, Katharina von Kellenbach, Elina Vuola, Timothy Wadkins, Elaine M. Wainwright, Randi Jones Walker, Dewey D. Wallace, Jerry Walls, Michael J. Walsh, Philip Walters, Janet Walton, Jonathan L. Walton, Wang Xiaochao, Patricia A. Ward, David Harrington Watt, Herold D. Weiss, Laurence L. Welborn, Sharon D. Welch, Timothy Wengert, Traci C. West, Merold Westphal, David Wetherell, Barbara Wheeler, Carolinne White, Jean-Paul Wiest, Frans Wijsen, Terry L. Wilder, Felix Wilfred, Rebecca Wilkin, Daniel H. Williams, D. Newell Williams, Michael A. Williams, Vincent L. Wimbush, Gabriele Winkler, Anders Winroth, Lauri Emílio Wirth, James A. Wiseman, Ebba Witt-Brattström, Teofil Wojciechowski, John Wolffe, Kenman L. Wong, Wong Wai Ching, Linda Woodhead, Wendy M. Wright, Rose Wu, Keith E. Yandell, Gale A. Yee, Viktor Yelensky, Yeo Khiok-Khng, Gustav K. K. Yeung, Angela Yiu, Amos Yong, Yong Ting Jin, You Bin, Youhanna Nessim Youssef, Eliana Yunes, Robert Michael Zaller, Valarie H. Ziegler, Barbara Brown Zikmund, Joyce Ann Zimmerman, Aurora Zlotnik, Zhuo Xinping
- Edited by Daniel Patte, Vanderbilt University, Tennessee
-
- Book:
- The Cambridge Dictionary of Christianity
- Published online:
- 05 August 2012
- Print publication:
- 20 September 2010, pp xi-xliv
-
- Chapter
- Export citation
Guide to further reading
- William Desmond, National University of Ireland, Maynooth
-
- Book:
- Cynics
- Published by:
- Acumen Publishing
- Published online:
- 05 February 2013
- Print publication:
- 30 August 2008, pp 262-273
-
- Chapter
- Export citation
3 - A life according to nature
- William Desmond, National University of Ireland, Maynooth
-
- Book:
- Cynics
- Published by:
- Acumen Publishing
- Published online:
- 05 February 2013
- Print publication:
- 30 August 2008, pp 132-161
-
- Chapter
- Export citation
-
Summary
The Cynics' denunciation of custom might strike one as often cynical and pessimistic with regard to human goodness. But while a modern cynic might remain content with carping, the ancient Cynics did not merely say no to custom. On the contrary, they criticized in order to clear the way for a better alternative: the “life according to nature” (kata physin) (DL 6.71). For them, the natural life is one of complete simplicity, free of all unnecessary, all-too-human contrivances. It is unburdened by needless cogitation and mental distraction. Living fully in the moment, without great hopes or fears, is for the Cynic the only way to become virtuous and happy: natural living brings the greatest pleasures, and the right pleasures. If contemporary people have forgotten elemental happiness, it is no matter: one can regain it by training oneself with much ascetic “work” (ponos), and Cynics could find inspiration in the thought that they were not alone, for there were many “primitive” peoples who shared citizenship with them in nature's elemental kingdom.
Images of nature
This is a summary of what is perhaps the Cynics' most important idea. But let us unravel its constituent strands in more detail. The Cynic renounces customs in order to live in accordance with nature, but what, one may ask, is nature? The question is a large one and this single word, “nature”, has been a battleground of rival worldviews.
Index
- William Desmond, National University of Ireland, Maynooth
-
- Book:
- Cynics
- Published by:
- Acumen Publishing
- Published online:
- 05 February 2013
- Print publication:
- 30 August 2008, pp 281-290
-
- Chapter
- Export citation
5 - Anarchists, democrats, cosmopolitans, kings
- William Desmond, National University of Ireland, Maynooth
-
- Book:
- Cynics
- Published by:
- Acumen Publishing
- Published online:
- 05 February 2013
- Print publication:
- 30 August 2008, pp 184-208
-
- Chapter
- Export citation
-
Summary
Renouncing custom, living wild among their urban peers, and boasting that they were wholly self-sufficient amid the ups and downs of life, the Cynics could often be a strong and disturbing presence in their societies. How should one assess this presence, and how should one understand them in relation to the political communities of which they were a part? There are several interconnected questions here. To what extent were the Cynics interested in politics? Were any of them political actors who joined in contemporary debates and struggles? Were any of them political theorists, and can various stray comments about the Athenian people, Hellenistic kings, Roman consuls, the city, law and the like add up to a recognizable political philosophy? More generally, what kind of political rhetoric did they favour? What political implications could the Cynic way of life have for their contemporaries? Once more, the issues involved are complex and can be approached from a variety of perspectives. As a result, there have been at least four main ways of judging the Cynics as political animals: they are at once anarchists, democrats, “kings” and cosmopolitans. We shall examine each in turn.
Anarchists
The most convenient label for the Cynics is that they were anarchists. The word “anarchy” is itself a Greek one: anarchy is a state without hierarchy or government. But the idea is really a modern one.
1 - Ancient Cynics and their times
- William Desmond, National University of Ireland, Maynooth
-
- Book:
- Cynics
- Published by:
- Acumen Publishing
- Published online:
- 05 February 2013
- Print publication:
- 30 August 2008, pp 9-76
-
- Chapter
- Export citation
-
Summary
Historical overview
Of the philosophies of antiquity, Cynicism was one of the most varied and enduring. Although Diogenes was the first to be nicknamed “the Dog”, earlier Greeks such as Antisthenes and Socrates at least in part shared his views on social rebellion, the natural life, and indifference to fortune, with which his name would be associated. After him there are individuals known as Cynics down at least to the fifth century ce, possibly with minor gaps. Over these nine centuries, battles were fought, leagues joined and disbanded, empires won and lost. The battle of Chaeronea (338 bce) made the Macedonian kings leaders of mainland Greece. The battles of Granicus, Issus and Arbela/Gaugamela (331 bce) placed Alexander on the throne of Asia. The battle at Ipsus (301 bce) effectively settled the division of Alexander's empire into Antigonid, Seleucid and Ptolemaic kingdoms. A generation later, Pyrrhus won victories of sorts against the Romans but by the end of the century, after the first two Punic Wars, the Romans ruled Italy, including the old Greek cities in the south and in Sicily, and were looking further afield. The Seleucid Empire was whittled away, especially after the battle of Magnesia (190 bce). Antigonids and Ptolemies bowed out of history after Pydna (168 bce) and Actium (31 bce) respectively. Victorious everywhere, the Romans established their famous peace and so secure was this Pax Romana that for a time it might seem divinely ordained and everlasting.
Notes
- William Desmond, National University of Ireland, Maynooth
-
- Book:
- Cynics
- Published by:
- Acumen Publishing
- Published online:
- 05 February 2013
- Print publication:
- 30 August 2008, pp 245-261
-
- Chapter
- Export citation
2 - Renunciation of custom
- William Desmond, National University of Ireland, Maynooth
-
- Book:
- Cynics
- Published by:
- Acumen Publishing
- Published online:
- 05 February 2013
- Print publication:
- 30 August 2008, pp 77-131
-
- Chapter
- Export citation
-
Summary
The most obvious activity of the ancient Cynics was their renunciation of traditional proprieties, and since antiquity observers have been alternately inspired and disgusted by their brazen protests. The Cynics' rejection of custom is an interesting cultural phenomenon in its own right, and to understand it in detail would take one through the whole gamut of Greek social usages. First, then, what are customs? Customs are the practices and expectations that guide the life of an individual and community. Generally they are habitual, and sometimes so engrained in routine that they are hardly noticed. One takes customs for granted, forgets their origins, as if they had always existed, and rarely questions them. The classical Sophists did question their societies' mores, however, as did many ancient philosophers after them. Most radical of all in their scepticism were the Cynics. From Diogenes until the last “dogs” of the ancient world, the Cynics defined themselves first by “snarling” at the institutions, rituals, beliefs and assumptions by which their contemporaries lived. To list their different acts of critique would be to compose a long priamel: “Not this, not that, and definitely not that”, says the Cynic in his scorn for all things merely conventional. In his seemingly universal nay-saying, the Cynic avoids traditional clothes, jewellery and bodily adornments for his own “uniform”; he restricts his diet; does not live in a house; derides bathing, sports, the Games; scoffs at festivals, sacrifice, prayer and religious life generally; does not marry, dodges work and steers clear of the courts, assembly, army and other arenas of political participation.
Glossary of Greek terms
- William Desmond, National University of Ireland, Maynooth
-
- Book:
- Cynics
- Published by:
- Acumen Publishing
- Published online:
- 05 February 2013
- Print publication:
- 30 August 2008, pp 242-244
-
- Chapter
- Export citation
6 - Cynic legacies
- William Desmond, National University of Ireland, Maynooth
-
- Book:
- Cynics
- Published by:
- Acumen Publishing
- Published online:
- 05 February 2013
- Print publication:
- 30 August 2008, pp 209-236
-
- Chapter
- Export citation
-
Summary
Free-spirited and varied as Cynicism was in antiquity, its legacy has been even more so. It is a legacy that stretches fairly continuously from Onesicritus to the present day, and over this long span one could point to many figures who partially resemble the ancient Cynics in one or more respects: for embracing poverty, rebelling against a stultifying society, rejecting learning or praising the happiness of simplicity. Depending on one's sympathetic imagination, this group could potentially include many characters: hermits, anchorites, Benedictines, Carthusians and other monks, Franciscans and Dominicans, as well as Jains, pasupatas, Sadhus and ascetics from other religious traditions; pioneers, explorers, adventurers who sailed out beyond the world's edge; Robin Hood and his merry men, modern anarchists, tramps, hoboes, Beats, hippies, punks, new agers, bohemians and all who those resolutely “do their own thing”. If the more closed ancient and medieval societies tended to produce characters who turned inwards to the unexplored mysteries of the self, a more expansive modern society lures its rebels and mystics to turn outwards to the infinite promise of an unexamined world beyond. There is a streak of Cynicism in Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn, who can never get used to the itchy clothes and praying and stuffy drawing rooms of Aunt Sally's world, so that he runs away, helping Jim escape from slavery, and eventually escaping himself west into “Injun Territory” where “a somebody can still be free”.
4 - Chance, fate, fortune and the self
- William Desmond, National University of Ireland, Maynooth
-
- Book:
- Cynics
- Published by:
- Acumen Publishing
- Published online:
- 05 February 2013
- Print publication:
- 30 August 2008, pp 162-183
-
- Chapter
- Export citation
-
Summary
When Diogenes was asked, “What have you learned from philosophy?”, he responded that it had taught him self-sufficiency and the ability to bear all the twists of fortune (DL 6.63). Lucian's, Demonax lived by the same creed: he made a cult of self-sufficiency, but as he grew older and more dependent on others he decided to end his life (Luc. Demon. 4). These two moments encapsulate concepts central to the Cynic philosophy: those of fortune, fate, chance and self-sufficiency. These ideas can easily become the stuff of cliché, but as with the notion of the life according to nature, terms such as Tychē and autarkeia arise from long cultural development and are rich with resonance. In exploring these, we shall again proceed from the abstract to the ethical, from the ideas of fate, fortune, chance and providence to the Cynic ethics of detachment and independence. The resulting Cynic synthesis was very influential, not least on Stoicism, but also in quarters as unexpected as Petronius' “Dinner of Trimalchio”.
Fate, fortune, chance, providence
The interrelated concepts of fate, fortune, chance and providence should be treated in themselves before we turn to some Greek sources, as the terms can be blended in a confusing variety of ways. There are two opposing views: either all things have a cause, or they do not. The first view that (i) all things that happen have a cause can be called causal determinism.
Frontmatter
- William Desmond, National University of Ireland, Maynooth
-
- Book:
- Cynics
- Published by:
- Acumen Publishing
- Published online:
- 05 February 2013
- Print publication:
- 30 August 2008, pp i-iv
-
- Chapter
- Export citation
Cynics
- William Desmond
-
- Published by:
- Acumen Publishing
- Published online:
- 05 February 2013
- Print publication:
- 30 August 2008
-
- Book
- Export citation
-
Once regarded as a minor Socratic school, Cynicism is now admired as one of the more creative and influential philosophical movements in antiquity. First arising in the city-states of late classical Greece, Cynicism thrived through the Hellenistic and Roman periods, until the triumph of Christianity and the end of pagan antiquity. In every age down to the present, its ideals of radical simplicity and freedom have alternately inspired and disturbed onlookers. This book presents the first general survey of Cynicism in antiquity for over fifty years. Drawing on a wealth of new research, William Desmond offers a comprehensive study of the most important ancient Cynics and their ideas, examining their rejection of various traditional customs and the rebellious life-style for which they were notorious. Desmond considers both the fragmentary ancient evidence on the Cynics and the historical interpretations that have shaped Cynic philosophy over later centuries. The central chapters locate major Cynic themes; its critique of convention, praise of natural simplicity, advocacy of self-sufficiency, defiance of Fortune, and celebration of freedom; within the rich matrix of ideas debated by the ancient schools and shows that far from being pessimistic or nihilistic, as modern uses of the term; suggest, the ancient Cynics were astonishingly optimistic regarding human nature. Cynics offers a fascinating introduction to some of the most colourful personalities of antiquity and a school of thought which continues to generate much philosophical interest today.
Introduction
- William Desmond, National University of Ireland, Maynooth
-
- Book:
- Cynics
- Published by:
- Acumen Publishing
- Published online:
- 05 February 2013
- Print publication:
- 30 August 2008, pp 1-8
-
- Chapter
- Export citation
-
Summary
According to legend, Alexander the Great had heard reports of a particular philosopher who professed a strange sort of wisdom. Owning little more than the clothes he wore, this man lived in the open in cities such as Athens and Corinth. At night he might sleep on the ground, or in porticoes or the entrances of temples, while during the day he wandered about, passing remarks about the people he met and the foolish things he saw them doing. This philosopher was said to have been exiled from his native city of Sinope, far to the north on the Black Sea, but he did not care, he said. His home was the whole earth, and he could live anywhere he liked. He was happier than kings, he said, and freer, more courageous, more just and better in all ways. In fact, everyone should become an exile like him, he said, and give up property, jobs, citizenship: everything. All these simply tie people down and make them unhappy, as they work and save for things that they do not need. If they lived like the birds or animals, they would have everything they want and be like gods. Such things the philosopher used to say to everyone he met, sometimes with a joke or a wry word, sometimes shouting, or rolling on the ground to make his point. In any case, he was quite a show and although his name was Diogenes, he was generally called by his nickname, “the Dog”.
Acknowledgements
- William Desmond, National University of Ireland, Maynooth
-
- Book:
- Cynics
- Published by:
- Acumen Publishing
- Published online:
- 05 February 2013
- Print publication:
- 30 August 2008, pp vi-vi
-
- Chapter
- Export citation
Bibliography
- William Desmond, National University of Ireland, Maynooth
-
- Book:
- Cynics
- Published by:
- Acumen Publishing
- Published online:
- 05 February 2013
- Print publication:
- 30 August 2008, pp 274-280
-
- Chapter
- Export citation
Glossary of names
- William Desmond, National University of Ireland, Maynooth
-
- Book:
- Cynics
- Published by:
- Acumen Publishing
- Published online:
- 05 February 2013
- Print publication:
- 30 August 2008, pp 237-241
-
- Chapter
- Export citation
Contents
- William Desmond, National University of Ireland, Maynooth
-
- Book:
- Cynics
- Published by:
- Acumen Publishing
- Published online:
- 05 February 2013
- Print publication:
- 30 August 2008, pp v-v
-
- Chapter
- Export citation
Philip Clayton The Problem of God in Modern Thought. (Grand Rapids MI and Cambridge: Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2000). Pp. xv+516. $40.00, £25.00 (Hbk). ISBN 0 8028 3885 5.
- WILLIAM DESMOND
-
- Journal:
- Religious Studies / Volume 39 / Issue 3 / September 2003
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 05 August 2003, pp. 359-363
- Print publication:
- September 2003
-
- Article
- Export citation
Ischemic stroke and depression
- Desmond David W., Remien Robert H., Moroney Joan T., Stern Yaakov, Sano Mary, Williams Janet B.W.
-
- Journal:
- Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society / Volume 9 / Issue 3 / 25 March 2003
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 25 February 2003, pp. 429-439
-
- Article
- Export citation
-
Previous studies of depression after stroke have reported widely variable findings, possibly due to differences between studies in patient characteristics and methods for the assessment of depression, small sample sizes, and the failure to examine stroke-free reference groups to determine the base rate of depression in the general population. In an effort to address certain of those methodologic issues and further investigate the frequency and clinical determinants of depression after stroke, we administered the Structured Interview Guide for the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (SIGH–D) and neurological, neuropsychological, and functional assessments to 421 patients (age = 71.5 ± 8.0 years) 3 months after ischemic stroke and 249 stroke-free control subjects (age = 70.8 ± 6.7 years). We required a SIGH–D total score > 11 for the identification of depression. We found that depression was less frequent (47/421 patients, or 11.2%, and 13/249 control subjects, or 5.2%), less severe, and less persistent in our stroke cohort than previously reported, possibly due to the underrepresentation of patients with a premorbid history of affective illness. Depression was associated with more severe stroke, particularly in vascular territories that supply limbic structures; dementia; and female sex. SIGH–D item analyses suggested that a reliance on nonsomatic rather than somatic symptoms would result in the most accurate diagnoses of depression after ischemic stroke. (JINS, 2003, 9, 429–439.)