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Diogenes the Cynic is one of the most famous Ancient philosophers. He founded Cynicism, the basis for two other famous ancient schools of philosophy, Epicureanism and Stoicism. He achieved his fame and reputation solely by the example he set. None of his writings exist today, and he probably published nothing during his lifetime.
Diogenes: The Rebellious Life and Revolutionary Philosophy of the Original Cynic, by Inger N.I. Kuin, is a biography of his life and a study of Diogenes’s impact on philosophy.
Unlike Socrates, whose thoughts and life were recorded by his disciples (most famously, Plato), Diogenes lacked biographers among his followers. No one copied Diogenes’s thoughts for posterity. Kuin pieced together Diogenes’s life from the collection of anecdotes and tales that had accumulated about Diogenes. The earliest biography of Diogenes, in Diogenes Laertius’s third century AD Lives of the Philosophers, was written six centuries after Diogenes the Cynic died.
Kuin admirably fits the pieces together, providing a portrait of Diogenes’s life which appears accurate. Kuin assesses the story of Diogenes’s meeting with Alexander the Great as true. This most famous of anecdotes about Diogenes has the philosopher requesting Alexander to stop blocking the sun from where Diogenes was sitting. Kuin posits that it most likely occurred when Alexander passed through Corinth to conquer the Peloponnese, not after Alexander conquered Persia.
Similarly, Kuin develops a coherent picture of Diogenes’s life: his birth and youth in Sinope, arrival in Athens and life in the Agora as a philosopher, capture by pirates while traveling, and life in Corinth as a slave. He shows how these events developed Diogenes’s view and ultimately the philosophy Diogenes created.
Cynicism, Diogenes’s version, not today’s modern cynicism, advocated living in the moment, eschewing wealth and luxury, total freedom from convention, and living in accord with nature on one’s own means. Kuin shows how this led Diogenes to avoid dependence on others. Kuin reveals Diogenes as virtually the only ancient philosopher to condemn slavery on moral grounds.
Kuin also shows how ancient Cynicism influenced philosophy, politics, and religion to the present day. This includes Christianity, for which Cynicism’s ascetic lifestyle (if not the sexual libertinism) appealed. Diogenes’s championing of liberty made him a symbol for revolutionary movements, including the French Revolutionaries.
Kuin's Diogenes is a good introduction to the man and his philosophy. It also shows the relevance of Ancient Cynicism in modern society. This book shows how philosophy remains worth studying today.
“Diogenes: The Rebellious Life and Revolutionary Philosophy of the Original Cynic,” by Inger N.I. Kuin, Basic Books, November 2025, 320 pages, $30.00 (Hardcover), $18.99 (E-book), $24.90 (Audiobook)
This review was written by Mark Lardas, who writes at Ricochet as Seawriter. Mark Lardas, an engineer, freelance writer, historian, and model-maker, lives in League City, TX. His website is marklardas.com.
Discussion (5)
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It may be apocryphal – the whole meeting may be, for that matter – but Alexander is supposed to have told his companions afterward that "if I weren't already Alexander I should have liked to be Diogenes."
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The author debated whether it was apocryphal, and decided it likely happened. But it happened before Alexander invaded Persia and Alexander was not yet "emperor." Apparently that some versions of the story place it after Alexander became emperor is enough to label it apocryphal. Kind of like deciding a story about President Washington starting the Seven-Years-War (or French and Indian War) has to be apocryphal because President Washington never fought the French between 1789 and 1797.
Alexander passed through Corinth too conquer the Peloponnese, had been educated by a philosopher (Aristotle) and fancied himself a philosopher. What are the odds he would have passed up a chance to meet a philosopher as renowned as Diogenes?
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I only noted the possibility of it being apocryphal because generally if I don't, someone will come along and "help" me.
I think it happened too.
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Except that he depended entirely on others, being a beggar and all. He was the proto-Marx.