#DIOGENES OF SINOPE MEMD HOW TO#

Him the founder of Cynicism, a body of legend soon grew up about him and obscured the true accounts of his life. Because of his great notoriety and because many people in antiquity considered One persistent tradition is that he wrote tragedies, perhaps to show that the misfortunes celebrated in the works of that genre could have been averted through the way of life which he taught.

His life in Athens was one of great poverty, but it was there that he adopted Antisthenes's teachings and became the chief exponent of Cynicism.Īlthough late authors attribute many works to Diogenes, none survives. He arrived in Athens after he and his father had been exiled from their native city for debasing the coinage in some way. The son of Hicesias, Diogenes was born in Sinope. 325 B.C.), a Greek philosopher, was the most famous exponent of Cynicism, which called for a closer imitation of nature, the repudiation of most human conventions, and complete independence of mind and spirit. Overall, I was able to grasp the majority of this chapter, but I personally feel like her examples were so jumbled that it took away from the actual point/argument O’Dell was trying to make.Diogenes (ca. While I understand the argument O’Dell is trying to make is comparing the life of a busy, overworked college student to an overworked employee with no rights, I still find the idea to be a little outlandish and I don’t think that she explained the concept very well. I personally find it hard to connect these two examples in any way and I get even more confused when O’Dell goes and compares longshoremen of the 1930s to Stanford students and the meme page they’ve set up. “When I read Selvin’s descriptions of the 1930s longshoremen before the strike, who lived unprotected from the vicissitudes of capital and “put up with round-the-clock shifts, cut short rest periods between jobs, and missed meal periods,” (pg. According to O’Dell this pier was a place where longshoreman used to work and used to experience extremely unfair working conditions. Then towards the end of the chapter she reflects upon a certain pier she sat at one afternoon. O’Dell starts with famous Greek philosopher Diogenes of Sinope who used to proclaim the most outlandish things like he wished to be buried “Upside down. While I understand that O’Dell is making the argument that as a society, we tend to turn our backs on those who stray from social norms but at the same time I thought her examples were all over the place. Even though her actions were an extremely important step for the Civil Rights movement, it wore heavily on her own mind and body.Īfter reflecting on this chapter in O’Dell’s book I think that the main idea of this chapter was a little bit unclear. For example, after Rosa Parks refusal to give up her seat to a white man on a city bus, she was unable to find work for the next ten years. Even though going against the status quo is often done in the name of progress, sometimes the consequences are detrimental. O’Dell goes on to discuss the repercussions of what happened when you go against the status quo of society. While Diogenes lived his convictions out in the open for everyone to see, others like Thoreau and Tehching Hsieh preferred to isolate themselves from society. Diogenes lived his convictions out in the open and instead of fully assimilating or fully exiting society, Diogenes lived in a certain limbo where he was still among members of society but he didn’t assimilate into society, he was fully himself. While Takala’s approach quietly threatens societal norms, Diogenes of Sinope, a Greek philosopher preferred to practice performance art. O’Dell opens that chapter up with a story following a marketing intern who rides the elevator “to get inspiration” and stares out the window “thinking about her thesis.” This intern turned out to be Pilvi Takala, a Finnish artist who creates videos while she quietly threatens social norms with simple actions.

#DIOGENES OF SINOPE MEMD HOW TO#

This week’s chapter of How to Do Nothing by Jenny O’Dell is titled “Anatomy of a Refusal.” Throughout the course of this chapter, O’Dell highlights those who refuse to follow certain societal norms.

Diogenes of sinope memd