Cynicism

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(see also alienation, consciousness and other key terms)

The old meaning

Today's use of the term cynic is virtually opposite in meaning to the ascetic philosophy of the Cynics in ancient Greece. Founded by Antisthenes (a pupil of Socrates) they shared a sometimes conspicuous contempt for ease, wealth, and the enjoyments of life. Diogenes (a pupil of Antisthenes) carried the principles to extremes of abstinence. The word 'cynic' derived from the Greek word for 'dog' and gives a clue as to its values:

1. Living more in/for the moment.
2. Being unrestrained in criticism
3. Unreserved in self-expression.

Today's meaning

Sloterdijk spells the above version with a capital 'C' to differentiate it from today's (small 'c') cynicism. He describes our current usage as enlightened false consciousness:

• "..the universally widespread way in which enlightened people see to it that they are not taken for suckers.....They know what they are doing, but they do it because, in the short run, the force of circumstances and the instinct for self-preservation are speaking the same language, and they are telling them that it has to be so...cynicism is enlightened false consciousness."

Further Reading

• Sloterdijk, P., 1987. Critique of Cynical Reason. Theory and History of Literature/U of Minnesota P.Rennesland, A.H., 2020. Nihilism Today: Enlightened False Consciousness