Aristippus

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For other people named Aristippus, see Aristippus (disambiguation).

Aristippus

Born

c.435BCE
Cyrene

Died

c.356BCE
Cyrene

Era

Ancientphilosophy

Region

Westernphilosophy

School

Cyrenaicschool

Maininterests

Hedonism

Influences[show]

Influenced[show]

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Aristippus of Cyrene (/rstps/; Greek: ; c. 435 c. 356 BCE) 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 adapting circumstances to
oneself and by maintaining proper control over both adversity and prosperity. Among his pupils was his
daughter Arete.
There are indications that he was conflated with his grandson, Aristippus the Younger.[2]

Contents
[hide]

1Life

2Philosophy
2.1On Ancient Luxury

3Notes

4References

5Further reading

6External links

Life[edit]
Partofaserieson

Hedonism
Thinkers[show]

Schoolsofhedonism[show]

Keyconcepts[show]

Relatedarticles[show]

Aristippus, the son of Aritades, was born at Cyrene, Ancient Libya, c. 435 BC. He came over
to Greece to be present at the Olympic games, where he inquired Ischomachus about Socrates, and by
his description was filled with so ardent a desire to see Socrates, that he went to Athens for the purpose,
[3]
and remained with him almost up to the time of his execution, 399 BC. Diodorus[4] dates him to 366
BC., 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 421 BC.
Though a disciple of Socrates, he 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, 396 BCE.[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[edit]

Cyrene, Libya, birthplace of Aristippus

The anecdotes which are told of him (there are many in Diogenes Lartius,[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 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.[citation needed]
Whether he was 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,[16] and notices a story of Plato
speaking to him, with rather undue vehemence, and of his replying with calmness.[17]
He 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 Lartius, on the authority
of Sotion and Panaetius, gives a long list of books whose authorship is ascribed to Aristippus, though he
also says that Sosicrates of Rhodes states that he wrote nothing.[18] Some letters attributed to him are
forgeries.

On Ancient Luxury[edit]
One work attributed to "Aristippus" in ancient times was a scandalous work entitled On Ancient
Luxury (or On the Luxury of the Ancients; Greek: ). This work, judging by the
quotations preserved by Diogenes Lartius,[19] was filled with spicy anecdotes about philosophers and
their supposed taste for boy-lovers and courtesans.[20] Thus the author supports his claims for Plato's
various erotic relationships through his quotation of epigrams attributed to the philosopher;[21] and makes
an extreme allegation that Periander committed incest with his own mother.[22] That this work cannot
have been written by Aristippus of Cyrene has long been realised,[23] not least because the author
mentions Theophrastus who lived a generation after Aristippus.[20] but the name may have been adopted
by the writer to suggest a connection with the hedonistic philosopher.[21]

Notes[edit]
1.

Jump up^ Although the systemization of the Cyrenaic philosophy is generally

placed with his grandson Aristippus the Younger.

2.

Jump up^ Debra Nails, The People of Plato, ISBN 1603844031, p. 50

3.

Jump up^ Plutarch, De Curios. 2.

4.

Jump up^ Diodorus, xv. 76.

5.

Jump up^ School. Ad Aristoph. Plot. 179.

6.

Jump up^ Being the first of the disciples of Socrates who did so (Lartius 1925,

65).
7.

Jump up^ Xenophon, Memorabilia, ii. 1.

8.

Jump up^ Diodorus, xiv. 79.

9.

Jump up^ Vitruvius, vi. 1.

10.

Jump up^ Lartius 1925, 65 ff..

11.

Jump up^ Horace, Ep. i. 1. 18

12.

Jump up^ Horace, i. 17. 23.

13.

Jump up^ Lartius 1925, 75.

14.

Jump up^ Lartius 1925, 73.

15.

Jump up^ Lartius 1925, 68.

16.

Jump up^ Aristotle, Metaphys. iii. 2.

17.

Jump up^ Aristotle, Rhet. ii. 23.

18.

Jump up^ Lartius 1925, 83-5.

19.

Jump up^ Lartius 1925, i. 96; Lartius 1925, ii. 23, 48-9; Lartius 1925, iii.
29-32; Lartius 1925, iv. 19; v. 3-4, 39; Lartius 1925, viii. 60.

20.
21.

^ Jump up to:a b Warren James Castle, (1951), The Platonic epigrams, page 14.
^ Jump up to:a b Kathryn J. Gutzwiller, (1998), Poetic garlands: Hellenistic
epigrams in context, page 50. University of California Press

22.
23.

Jump up^ Lartius 1925, i. 96

Jump up^ "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[edit]

Lartius, Diogenes (1925). "Socrates, with predecessors and followers: 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[edit]

Voula Tsouna, The Epistemology of the Cyrenaic School, Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press. 1998.
Ugo Zilioli, The Cyrenaics, New York: Acumen / Routledge, 2012.

External links[edit]

"Aristippus". Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy.

Cyrenaics Resource Handbook of Cyrenaic resources, primary and secondary, includes
Aristippus
Aristippus of Cyrene on Ancient History Encyclopedia