犬儒主义

Our group will talk sth about cynicism. We emphasis on the

development and transformation of it and we will also tell you other

things developed from it, such as some music.

So do you know what is cynicism? The Chinese name of it is犬儒主义 so can you guess? just like the picture, It means the type of

persons living like dogs. the word dog was thrown at the first cynics

as an insult for their shameless rejections of conventional manners

and their decision to live on the streets. but in my view, just thinking

of cynicism itself. In the early time, it is a good word. it means

persons live naturally and sincerely like a dog. They are loyal and

reliable. And they follow their hearts and the intrinsic motivation.

but later it is a bad one.

In its original form, Cynicism refers to the beliefs of an ancient

school of Greek philosophers known as the Cynics. Their

philosophy was that the purpose of life was to live a life of Virtue in

agreement with Nature. This meant rejecting all conventional

desires for wealth, power, health, and fame, and by living a simple

life free from all possessions. in their opinions, as reasoning

creatures, people could gain happiness by rigorous training and by

living in a way which was natural for humans. They also believed

that the world belonged equally to everyone. This maybe be

ridiculous in their time, but the actuality what we have now. and

they also think suffering was caused by false judgments of what

was valuable and by the worthless customs and conventions which

surrounded society. They required freedom and frankness, which

politics disallowed.

For example, there are some typical philosophers in the ancient

time.

Diogenes is considered one of the founders of Cynicism.

Many anecdotes of Diogenes refer to his dog-like behavior, and his

praise of a dog's virtues. Diogenes said:

"I am Diogenes the Dog. I nuzzle the kind, bark at the greedy and

bite scoundrels.

Diogenes believed human beings live artificially and hypocritically

and would do well to study the dog. As for a dog, it perform natural

body functions in public with ease, a dog will eat anything, and

make no fuss about where to sleep. Dogs live in the present without

anxiety, and have no use for the pretensions of abstract philosophy.

In addition to these virtues, dogs are thought to know who is friend

and who is foe.

There is a story about Diogenes, you can also find it in the

es lived in a tub on the streets of Athens. One day,

conqueror of half the civilize world, Alexander the Great, saw

Diogenes sitting in this tub in the sunshine. So the king, surrounded

by his countries, approached Diogenes and said,” I am Alexander

the Great.” The philosopher replied rather contemptuously,” I am

Diogenes, the Cynic.” Alexander then asked him if he could help

him in any way." Yes,” shot back Diogenes," don't stand between

me and the sun.” A surprised Alexander then replied quickly,” If I

were not Alexander, I would be Diogenes."

This is what cynicism perform in the early time. This thought can be

found in many parts of the world. For example, in china, the

persons of Chinese Taoism also held the similar thoughts.

Chinese Taoism emphasizes living in harmony with the

Tao. And

tao is natural, ,eternal, nameless, and indescribable. It is the

beginning of all things and the way in which all things pursue their

course.

There is a typical philosopher called Chuang Tzu. Chang Tzu

advocates that men distance themselves from the traditional

prestige and honor of worldly life, and think about what it means to

simply live.

There is a story about him

Zhuang Zhou once had1 a dream2. He dreamt of himself3 turning4

into a butterfly, flying in the air, feeling5 like he was6 real7 free

butterfly.

In his dream he was amusedwithout noticing9 that this butterfly was

only something in his dream. After a while10, he woke11 up and

found12 that he was still himself, not a butterfly. He felt surprised13

and couldn't tell whether14 it was he turned into a butterfly in his

dream or a butterfly turned into him.

So you can see, cynicism and Chinese Taoism are alike in some

parts.

However, as the time flying, cynicism in the modern life is

extremely different from the early meanings. And my partners will

introduce you more information.