Tim Seaton

Diogenes was a famous but controversial Greek philosopher who supposedly lived an unconventional life. Amongst other things, he is known for his witty sayings, including one that is particularly well known: “I am not an Athenian or a Greek, but a citizen of the world.” What did he mean by this? Did he mean the world should all be united under one rule, or he just didn’t want to be classified with a specific cultural group? Did he think he was “worldly,” in the sense he knew and understood the ways of the whole world? Is this a quotation those of us are living now, in our current world, can identify with in the same way as Diogenes meant? How should followers of Christ respond to this idea of being a citizen of the world?

The stories of Diogenes’ life and history are colorful, though it is hard to differentiate between what is true and what are exaggerated tales. Diogenes originally lived in Sinope, Turkey until he was exiled for a scandal involving the state currency. He then ran away to Athens, Greece with a slave named Manes. Shortly after arriving, Manes left him, and he said, “If Manes can live without Diogenes, why not Diogenes without Manes?” He became a philosopher and decided he wanted to study under an acclaimed philosopher named Antisthenes. Despite Antisthenes’ lack of willingness to take on a student, Diogenes was relentless in his pursuit and the older philosopher tolerated, if not welcomed, the uninvited student. Here in Athens, he debated with Plato about what a man was. “A featherless biped” was Plato’s definition. Diogenes went out, plucked a chicken, came back and told Plato, “Behold, I have brought you a man.” Shortly after this, he started living in a barrel on the street with just a few possessions. He sometimes wandered the streets with his lantern looking for an honest man, but all he said he found were beggars and liars. On a fateful journey while taking a ship to Aegina, his transportation was captured by pirates. He was taken to Corinth where he was sold as a slave to a man named Xeniades. Xeniades began to know Diogenes better, and he was impressed with how smart he was, so he assigned Diogenes the task of being a tutor for his sons. He stayed there for a long time as a tutor and helper. When he was released from bondage, he started pursuing philosophy again. It was during these days Diogenes established himself as a formidable philosopher. Diogenes died in Corinth, some say at the age of 89. Supposedly he died either by suffocating himself, eating a raw octopus that gave him a deadly disease, or a dog bite that became infected: all colorful and imaginative ends, which may or may not be true, for a humorous but self-centered character.

Diogenes helped to establish the Cynic Philosophy. This is the inclination to believe people are motivated purely by self-interest, and reasoning and natural things should be the bases for decisions. Cynics were similar to Stoics in they led a simple life with few possessions. However, this was not because they felt anything was inherently bad about having things, but because they didn’t want to be held to a particular culture’s standards of how to live. They didn’t want to be tied to a specific religion or cultural group. The name “cynic” comes from the Greek word κυνικός (kynikos),which means “doglike.” Cynics believed in living out their beliefs in their everyday lives, rather than just talking about them. Diogenes was a poor man by choice, since Cynics believed in a simple life in order to be free of the expectations of culture. His only possessions were a barrel to live in, a clock, a lantern, and a bowl. In fact, he smashed his only bowl when he saw a little boy drink with his hands and realized a bowl wasn’t really necessary or needed.

When Diogenes was alive, Greece was not at war with other countries. It raises the question as to whether Diogenes would have still proclaimed to be a citizen of the world rather than of Athens or Greece if it had been in a time of war. Perhaps if they had been at war, he wouldn’t have been so eager to separate himself from the bonds of his culture because the Greeks would have been fighting against other countries. A war might have increased his loyalty to the place he lived and made him more willing to conform or be part of the culture he lived in. But without a war to unite him with the culture around him, perhaps he had no reason to want to adjust to the surrounding culture’s standards.

Since Diogenes was a slave in Greece, one might find it likely he would believe in the Greek gods and goddesses. Instead, he scorned people who believed in gods because he thought reason should be the ultimate method for making every decision. This may be one of the reasons he called himself a citizen of the world, because he did not want to be confined by the conventions and unreasonable beliefs of any culture.

Being poor could have affected his lifestyle and worldview. Diogenes thought many belongings were unnecessary to have in life. Some of these were riches that bought someone more than was really needed. One didn’t need a big house, or even a house at all. He demonstrated this by living in a barrel. Lots of fancy clothes also weren’t needed as long as you had some. He believed an unreasonable culture demanded life be cluttered with these signs of prosperity and status.

Diogenes disdained cultural conventions and scorned those who followed them. He thought you should instead follow your own reasoning and base your decisions off of that. He also believed in the idea of shamelessness, declaring if one can do something in private without shame, then it should be without shame in public as well. He thought if eating in the house was okay, why not eating in public at a market, even though it was culturally inappropriate in his day. He thought if going to the bathroom in private facilities was acceptable, then wouldn’t it be okay to go in public places as well? To prove his point, he actually did these things, demonstrating the Cynic belief you should “live” what you believe and not just talk about it. When Diogenes felt like doing something, he did not care what people thought of him or if they were comfortable with it or not. He was not concerned with respecting or honoring others.

A “citizen of the world” could be defined as a person who is at home in any country, not confined by the conventions of a specific culture. Is this what Diogenes was proclaiming? One could argue this because Diogenes did not want to conform to whatever the standards of the culture would try to require. He wanted to be able to go anywhere and do anything at any time. When Diogenes was alive, the broader world was inaccessible to him and his peers. What could be known and explored was limited in a sense. He couldn’t have timely knowledge of things happening elsewhere in the world. The true disparity of far-flung cultures couldn’t be completely discovered and explored. Because of this, the world and its differences weren’t fully able to be grasped or understood.

The world as we know it is in stark contrast to that of Diogenes’. The known world is larger, but at the same time it is far more accessible. Advances in technology have dramatically transformed our world. Today, we can receive news from the opposite side of the world. We can hypothesize the weather anywhere in the world for days ahead. We can see the results of terrorist attacks anywhere they happen. We can instantly find out about natural disasters and see how much devastation they cause. We can find out when major political characters die in different countries or governments oppress their people. We can learn about space exploration programs that have started or will be starting soon. We can use the Internet to look up how kids in Africa or anywhere else in the world live. We have phones from which we can send texts and call someone across the world. We have computers from which we can send and receive e-mails from anyone instantly. We have planes, cars, and motorized boats we can use to get places faster and farther. Now the only problem with electronics is they can distract us from the real world.

If a modern-day teenager were to declare he is a citizen of the world, he may mean he has traveled extensively or he wants to travel around the world to see things firsthand. This is a realistic possibility, which it wasn’t in Diogenes’ day. This is a little different than Diogenes being a citizen of the world. Diogenes is referring to not being in a specific culture and conforming to it. A teen is just talking about how someone is able to travel all the way across the world in a few hours.

This statement could also have another meaning to someone from our time in history. It could also mean people are so in touch with everything they feel deeply impacted by it. They are impacted by it because they can get news anytime, and they know about the different circumstances, unlike Diogenes who was only in touch with the surrounding areas. We are not limited to only knowing about what is happening in our city and state or even country, but we can know about everything, everywhere, right away. We are a citizen of the world because can know about everything.

This statement could also mean one feels a responsibility to address the things happening in the world. When something goes wrong, a person could personally feel responsible for it even though he might not be able to stop it or change what would happen. Modern governments are trying to help stop ISIS and aren’t concerned only with their own countries. If there is a natural disaster, individuals may help out by collecting money or going to help. Maybe they donate money to charities helping people around the world in need of help. They could join the Peace Corps or conservation groups or become a missionary. Being a citizen of the world nowadays might mean actually doing things that could have an impact all across the world.

When Diogenes proclaimed himself a citizen of the world, it seems he only thought of himself and what would make him happy, not of others or what they would want. He thought only of his own self-interests. Now, rather than this thought excluding the rest of the world and focusing on selfish views, people might have a much broader view due to the fact the rest of the world can be known in a much more real way. Being a citizen of the world might mean knowing, doing, or even going there.

The Bible says we should think of others before ourselves. Take Philippians 2:34. It reads, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility, value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of others.” This is directly opposite to what Diogenes and his fellow Cynics believed. Cynic philosophy was all about being motivated by self interest, not wanting to help or consider others. As Christians, we must be able to recognize and view ourselves with humility and consider others first. Whereas Diogenes believed being a citizen of the world meant being free from the responsibility to consider the desires of others, Christians should view it as an opportunity to live in service to others whom we value more highly than ourselves.

Bibliography

“Diogenes of Sinope.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 21 Aug. 2016. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diogenes_of_Sinope. 7 Sept. 2016.

“Diogenes the Cynic.” Diogenes the Cynic. University of Chicago, n.d. http://penelope.uchicago.edu/~grout/encyclopaedia_romana/greece/hetairai/diogenes.html. 7 Sept. 2016.

Mark, Joshua J. “Diogenes of Sinope.” Ancient History Encyclopedia. Ancient History Encyclopedia, 02 Aug. 2014. http://www.ancient.eu/Diogenes_of_Sinope/. 7 Sept. 2016.

Piering, Julie. “Diogenes of Sinope.” Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. University of Arkansas at Little Rock, n.d. http://www.iep.utm.edu/diogsino/#H1. 7 Sept. 2016.