Diogenes believed a natural life was ideal, so when passersby called him a dog, Diogenes, not one to contest such a virtuous compliment, urinated on said passersby as a sign of gratitude. Indeed, the word cynic comes from the Greek word for dog because this school of philosophers lived with dogs and. Contradicting these caricatures of philosophers, we have the accounts of Diogenes, an Ancient Greek beggar of Athens. People have already mentioned Socrates and Aristotle. Diogenes lived in a clay barrel outside of town with a pack of dogs for friends. There are a few other philosophers who compare dogs and philosophers, but they're sporadic. It is not known whether Diogenes was insulted with the epithet 'doggish' and made a virtue of it, or whether he first took up the dog theme himself. Dogs were simply a good example of a creature who lives in society but doesn't actually partake in what we'd consider civilization. Diogenes as dogged or dog-like edit Many anecdotes of Diogenes refer to his dog-like behavior, and his praise of a dog's virtues. He thought being dog-like was valuable, but that had much more to do with rejecting civilization than actually thinking dogs are unique or better than any other animals. And his philosophy argued for such practices. He lived on the street, eschewed money, masturbated and shat in public, etc. Order food online at Diogenes the Dog, London with Tripadvisor: See 36 unbiased reviews of Diogenes the Dog, ranked 3,150 on Tripadvisor among 24,094 restaurants in London. Cynicism was an intensely skeptical philosophy, hostile to social mores and much human activity Diogenes himself was noted as irascible and caustic, iconoclastic and. 404323 B.C.E.) The most illustrious of the Cynic philosophers, Diogenes of Sinope serves as the template for the Cynic sage in antiquity. "Kynic" came from "kynos" for "dog," and he was called a kynic because he choose to live without the comforts of civilization. Because Diogenes lived on the streets, begged for food, barked at the pretentious and arrogant, and showed a determined fondness for canines himself, he was cast as dog-like. Antique Dog Postcard ST BERNARD Crumbs from the Rich Mans Table, Sir E Landseer. Diogenes was a "kynic" (or "cynic," though the ancient Greek term had little in common with modern cynicism). POSTCARD PAINTING of DOGS ALEXANDER & DIOGENES, LANDSEER TATE GALLERY c1910. Unfortunately, Diogenes wasn't an ancient pupper-lover (or at least not *just* a dog-lover).