65DION CHRYSOSTOM(1905), The Essence of Philosophy (1907),
and The Types of World View (1911).
DIOGENES LAERTIUS (3rd century
CE). Regarded not as a philosopher in
his own right, his extant work Lives of the
Philosophers is nevertheless one of the
most important secondary sources for the
thought of many Greek and Latin philos-
ophers. In particular, he is an invaluable
source for the writings of Epicurus,
leading some to believe that he was an
Epicurean, though this is uncertain.
In his work, he divides philosophers
into Ionic and Italic schools, with the
former derived from Anaximander and
the latter from Pythagoras. After Socrates,
the Ionic philosophers are further divided
into three branches: Plato and the Aca-
demics through Clitomachus, the Cynics
through Chrysippus, and Aristotle through
Theophrastus. The Italic school consists
of Telanges, Xenophanes, Parmenides,
Zeno of Elea, Leucippus, Democritus,
and others through Epicurus. Diogenes
is also known for his own humorous
(though presumably mostly fictional)
poetry regarding the illustrious deaths of
the philosophers of his day.
DIOGENES OF SINOPE (a.k.a. Dio-
genes the Cynic) (404/412–323 BCE).
While many stories are told about his life,
one thing that we do know is that he lived
in a tub or pithos in Athens. His principle
that if an act is not shameful when done
in private, it is not shameful if done in
public led him to such exploits as eating
in the marketplace (contrary to custom)
and masturbating there—lamenting that
it was not as easy to satisfy his belly by
rubbing it—defecating in the amphithe-
ater, and urinating in public.
Diogenes is sometimes viewed as
standing for rationality and common
sense against lofty metaphysics, as illus-
trated by his act of bringing a plucked
chicken to Plato’s Academy, exclaiming
that it was Plato’s man, since Plato had
defined man as a featherless biped. As
with other Cynics, Diogenes believed that
reason consisted of living in accordance
with nature, rather than the pretentious
standards of civilization. He experienced
great difficulty in trying to find a person
who met such a standard, and he is said to
have traveled with a lit lantern during the
day in search of a truly honest person.DION CHRYSOSTOM (c. 40–c. 120
CE). Dion, also known as Dio of
Prusa, was a first century orator well
known for his rhetorical speaking abili-
ties (hence, the label of “Chrysostom,”
or “gold mouth”). Dion fell out of favor
with the Roman emperor Domitian
because he was a friend of a member of
Domitian’s family who had angered the
emperor and had been killed; as a result,
he was exiled around 82 CE. During his
exile, he traveled widely through lands