ole
principle lay in the method of definitions, Socrates, in fact, left
his followers without any definition of the supreme concept of his
philosophy, virtue. It was upon this point, therefore, that the
followers of Socrates disagreed. They all agreed that virtue is the
sole end of life, but they developed different ideas as to what sort
of life is in fact virtuous.

The Cynics.

Antisthenes, the founder of the Cynic School, repeated the familiar
propositions that virtue is founded upon knowledge, is teachable, and
is one. But what aroused the admiration of Antisthenes was not
Socrates, the man of intellect, the man of science, the philosopher,
but Socrates, the man of independent character, who followed his own
notions of right with complete indifference to the opinions of others.
This independence was in fact merely a by-product of the Socratic
life. Socrates had been independent of all earthly goods and
possessions, caring neither for riches nor for applause, only because
his heart was set upon a greater treasure, the acquisition of wisdom.
Mere independence and indifference to the {159} opinions of others
were not for him ends in themselves. He did not make fetishes of them.
But the Cynics interpreted his teaching to mean that the independence
of earthly pleasures and possessions is in itself the end and object
of life. This, in fact, was their definition of virtue, complete
renunciation of everything that, for ordinary men, makes life worth
living, absolute asceticism, and rigorous self-mortification.
Socrates, again, thinking that the only knowledge of supreme value is
ethical knowledge, had exhibited a tendency to disparage other kinds
of knowledge. This trait the Cynics exaggerated into a contempt for
all art and learning so great as frequently to amount to ignorance and
boorishness. "Virtue is sufficient for happiness," said Antisthenes,
"and for virtue nothing is requisite but the strength of a Socrates;
it is a matter of action, and does not require many words, or much
learning." The Cynic ideal of virtue is thus purely negative; it is
the absence of all desire, freedom from all wants, complete
independence of all possessions. Many of them refused to own houses or
any dwelling place, and wandered about as vagrants and beggars.
Diogenes, for the same reason, lived in a tub. Socrates, following
single-heartedly what he knew to be good, cared nothing what the
vulgar said. But this indifference to the opin