Stuff I Don't Understand...

[TheSourceCode]

Diogenes was once asked what he thought of Socrates. "A madman," he replied.

Later, Plato was asked what he thought of Diogenes. "A Socrates gone mad," he replied.

Diogenes ridiculed Plato for being long-winded.

That doesn't make much sense.

[TheSourceCode]

I am eagerly awaiting the appearance of some dimwit of a monk (or barring that, half such a monk) richly endowed with a natural stock of spiritual power and kindled within by a raging religious fire, who will fling himself unhesitatingly into the midst of this poison and instantly die the Great Death.

Rising from that Death, he will arm himself with a calabash of gigantic size and roam the great earth seeking true and genuine monks. Wherever he encounters one, he will spit in his fists, flex his muscles, fill his calabash with deadly poison and fling a dipperful of it over him, drenching him head to foot, so that he too is forced to surrender his life. Ah! what a magnificent sight to behold!

Also, can you please explain the meaning of this.

[TheSourceCode]

Ugh.

[Dan Rowden]

Diogenes was once asked what he thought of Socrates. "A madman," he replied.

Later, Plato was asked what he thought of Diogenes. "A Socrates gone mad," he replied.

Diogenes ridiculed Plato for being long-winded.

That doesn't make much sense.

I think Diogenes was simply making a point about economy of language. i.e. don't use more words to make your point that you need to. Either that or Diogenes was just being a smartarse.

[Steven Coyle]

You could also look at it from the angle of Diogene's sense of self. Diogenes, like Socrates, required a very strong sense of purpose in order to manage the philosophic life he once led. In his rebuttal to Plato's remark, Diogenes is also saying, "I like Socrates. I understand Socrates. He's an outlaw, much like myself."

[ataxas]

Diogenes was making a joke, and a statement about language. If Socrates is a madman, as Diogenes said, and if Diogenes is a Socrates gone mad, as Plato said, then Diogenes is a madman gone mad, which is redundant.

[Jamesh]

Proabably just a play on words.


I know stuff all about either Diogenes or Socrates, but I would speculate he was pointing to the different forms of madness. The impression I get of Socrates is that he was a lover of life, he was a people person, to the point of madness, whereas Diogenes hated life, particularly humans. That Socrates could have avoided his death means nothing - he was old and had had enough.

The first form is tolerable madness, madness one can appreciate, the persons volatilty is kind of fun, the second form is far more insane, truly crazy. That Diogenes the Dog hated humanity, yet still whined about it, meant that he actually wanted humanity to survive, he whined to induce improvement, so there was a core conflict of rationality, a madness, in his beliefs.

[Ataraxia]

I never got the impression that Diogenes hated life.Rather he was a cynic and considered himself surrounded by fools.

Fair play to him.

[xerox]

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