Aristippus

Aristippus of Cyrene (/ˌærəˈstɪpəs/; Greek: Ἀρίστιππος ὁ Κυρηναῖος; c.

Aristippus
435 – c. 356 BC) was the founder of the Cyrenaic school of Philosophy.[1]
He was a pupil of Socrates, but adopted a very different philosophical
outlook, teaching that the goal of life was to seek pleasure by circumstances
to oneself and by maintaining proper control over both adversity and
prosperity. His outlook came to be called "ethical hedonism." Among his
pupils was his daughter Arete.

There are indications that he was conflated with his grandson, Aristippus
the Younger.[2]

Contents
Life
Philosophy
On Ancient Luxury
Notes Born c. 435 BC
References Cyrene
Attribution
Died c. 356 BC
Further reading Cyrene
External links
Era Ancient philosophy
Region Western philosophy
Life School Cyrenaic school

Aristippus, the son of Aritades, was born in Cyrene, Ancient Libya, c. 435 Main Hedonism
interests
BC. He came to Greece to be present at the Olympic games, where he asked
Ischomachus about Socrates, and by his description was filled with so Influences
ardent a desire to see Socrates, that he went to Athens for the purpose,[3] Influenced
and remained with him almost up to the time of his execution in 399.
Diodorus[4] dates him to 366, which agrees very well with the facts known about him, and with the statement,[5] that
Lais, the courtesan with whom he was intimate, was born in 421.

Though a disciple of Socrates, Aristippus wandered very far both in principle and practice from the teaching and
example of his great master. He lived luxuriously, was happy to seek sensual gratification and the company of the
notorious Lais. He also took money for his teaching, the first of Socrates' disciples to do so[6] and even told Socrates
that he resided in a foreign land in order to escape the trouble of involving himself in the politics of his native city.[7]
He passed part of his life at the court of Dionysius I of Syracuse or Dionysius the Younger, and is also said to have been
taken prisoner by Artaphernes, the satrap who drove the Spartans from Rhodes in 396.[8] He appears, however, at last
to have returned to Cyrene, and there he spent his old age.

In Book VI of De architectura, Vitruvius describes Aristippus:

 It is related of the Socratic philosopher Aristippus that, being shipwrecked and cast ashore on the coast
of the Rhodians, he observed geometrical figures drawn thereon, and cried out to his companions: "Let
us be of good cheer, for I see the traces of man." With that he made for the city of Rhodes, and went
straight to the gymnasium. There he fell to discussing philosophical subjects, and presents were
bestowed upon him, so that he could not only fit himself out, but could also provide those who
accompanied him with clothing and all other necessaries of life. When his companions wished to return
to their country, and asked him what message he wished them to carry home, he bade them say this: that
children ought to be provided with property and resources of a kind that could swim with them even out
of a shipwreck.[9]

Philosophy
The anecdotes which are told of Aristippus (there are many in Diogenes
Laërtius)[10] by no means give us the notion of a person who was the mere
slave of his passions, but rather of one who took a pride in extracting
enjoyment from all circumstances of every kind, and in controlling
adversity and prosperity alike. They illustrate and confirm the two
statements of Horace,[11] that to observe the precepts of Aristippus is "to
endeavour to adapt circumstances to myself, not myself to circumstances"
and[12] that, "every complexion of life, every station and circumstance sat
gracefully upon him." Thus when reproached for his love of bodily Cyrene, Libya, birthplace of
Aristippus
indulgences, he answered, that "it is not abstinence from pleasures that is
best, but mastery over them without ever being worsted".[13] When
Dionysius, provoked at some of his remarks, ordered him to take the lowest place at table, he said, "You wish to dignify
the seat".[14] "Wise people, even though all laws were abolished, would still lead the same life"[15] is the single most
popular quotation of his on the Internet, where it is usually, and erroneously, attributed to the comic poet
Aristophanes.[16]

Whether Aristippus was a prisoner to a satrap, grossly insulted and even spit upon by a tyrant, enjoying the pleasures
of a banquet or reviled for faithlessness to Socrates by his fellow-pupils, he maintained the same calm temper. He
seemed insulting to Xenophon and Plato, as seen from the Memorabilia, where he maintains a discussion against
Socrates in defence of voluptuous enjoyment, and from the Phaedo, where his absence at the death of Socrates, though
he was only at Aegina, 200 stadia from Athens, is doubtless mentioned as a reproach. Aristotle, too, calls him a
sophist,[17] and notices a story of Plato's speaking to him, with rather undue vehemence, and of his replying with
calmness.[18]

Aristippus imparted his doctrine to his daughter Arete who, in turn, imparted it to her son, Aristippus the Younger,
who is said to have reduced it to a system. Diogenes Laërtius, on the authority of Sotion and Panaetius, gives a long list
of books whose authorship is ascribed to Aristippus, though he also states that according to Sosicrates of Rhodes,
Aristippus never wrote anything.[19] Some letters attributed to him are forgeries. Although his dubious reputation has
survived into modern times, his philosophy of ethical hedonism, as its name implies, was not entirely amoral. He
admonished his students to never harm others, and cautioned that the pursuit of pleasure ought to be moderated by
moral self-restraint.[20]

On Ancient Luxury
One work attributed to "Aristippus" in ancient times was a scandalous work entitled On  Ancient  Luxury (or On the
Luxury  of  the  Ancients; Greek: Περὶ παλαιᾶς τρυφῆς). This work, judging by the quotations preserved by Diogenes
Laërtius,[21] was filled with spicy anecdotes about philosophers and their supposed taste for courtesans and young
boys.[22] Thus the author supports his claims for Plato's various erotic relationships through his quotation of epigrams
attributed to the philosopher,[23] and makes an extreme allegation that Periander committed incest with his own
mother.[24] That this work cannot have been written by Aristippus of Cyrene has long been realised,[25] not least
because the author mentions Theophrastus who lived a generation after Aristippus.[22] The name may have been
adopted by the writer to suggest a connection with the hedonistic philosopher.[23]

Notes
1. Although the systemization of the Cyrenaic philosophy is generally placed with his grandson Aristippus the
Younger.
2. Debra Nails, The People of Plato, ISBN 1603844031, p. 50 (https://books.google.com/books?id=y3YRwNsnu54C
&pg=PA50)
3. Plutarch, De Curios. 2.
4. Diodorus, xv. 76.
5. School. Ad Aristoph. Plot. 179.
6. Being the first of the disciples of Socrates who did so (Laërtius 1925, § 65).
7. Xenophon, Memorabilia, ii. 1.
8. Diodorus, xiv. 79.
9. Vitruvius, vi. 1.
10. Laërtius 1925, § 65 ff..
11. Horace, Ep. i. 1. 18
12. Horace, i. 17. 23.
13. Laërtius 1925, § 75.
14. Laërtius 1925, § 73.
15. Laërtius 1925, § 68.
16. "Wise people, even though all laws were abolished, would still lead the same life -> ἐὰν πάντες οἱ νόμοι
ἀναιρεθῶσιν, ὁμοίως βιώσομεν [oἱ φιλόσοφοι] (Aristippus of Cyrene via Diogenes Laertius 2.68.8)" (https://ww
w.translatum.gr/forum/index.php?topic=381907.msg615764#msg615764). Translatum.gr.
17. Aristotle, Metaphys. iii. 2.
18. Aristotle, Rhet. ii. 23.
19. Laërtius 1925, § 83-5.
20. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Aristippus
21. Laërtius 1925, i. § 96; Laërtius 1925, ii. § 23, 48–49; Laërtius 1925, iii. § 29–32; Laërtius 1925, iv. 19; v. 3–4, 39;
Laërtius 1925, viii. 60.
22. Warren James Castle, (1951), The Platonic epigrams, p. 14.
23. Kathryn J. Gutzwiller, (1998), Poetic garlands: Hellenistic epigrams in context, p. 50. University of California Press
24. Laërtius 1925, i. 96
25. "Aristippus" entry in Alexander Chalmers, (1812), The General Biographical Dictionary Containing An Historical
And Critical Account Of The Lives And Writings Of The Most Eminent Persons In Every Nation, page 458.

References
 Laërtius, Diogenes (1925). "Socrates, with predecessors and followers: Aristippus"  (https://en.wikisource.org/wi
ki/Lives_of_the_Eminent_Philosophers/Book_II#Aristippus). Lives of the Eminent Philosophers. 1:2. Translated by
Hicks, Robert Drew (Two volume ed.). Loeb Classical Library.

Attribution
 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Smith, William, ed. (1870).
"Aristippus". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology.
Further reading
Voula Tsouna, The Epistemology of the Cyrenaic School, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1998.
Ugo Zilioli, The Cyrenaics, New York: Acumen / Routledge, 2012.

External links
"Aristippus" (http://www.iep.utm.edu/aristip). Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
Cyrenaics Resource (http://lucianofsamosata.info/wiki/doku.php?id=cyrenaics:cyrenaics) Handbook of Cyrenaic
resources, primary and secondary, includes Aristippus
Aristippus of Cyrene (http://www.ancient.eu/Aristippus_of_Cyrene/) on Ancient History Encyclopedia

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