L'ascèse comique : le rire de Diogène et la voie du Cynisme

Details

Supervisors

Destrée, Pierre

Faculty

Faculté de philosophie, arts et lettres

Degree label

Master [120] en philosophie, à finalité approfondie

Abstract

enAlongside the widespread view that cynicism was not only a "way of life" but also a proper "philosophy school" based on arguments and reflections, Diogenes has been noted by some philosophers to be of a rather humorous character: he laughed and made others laugh. However, few have really taken this hypothesis into consideration and studied the philosophical significance of the Cynics' humor in detail. That is what this thesis aims to achieve I argue not only was Diogenes a humorous philosopher, but also that this very behavior was his main "philosophical discovery". I am convinced that his laughter founded a new way to speak the truth, so to speak, or at least a new way to illuminate the much discussed Socratic problem of ethics. I therefore try to show that one cannot expect to understand the Cynics' ascetism without understanding the significance of Diogenes' comic character.