Aristippus

Aristippus of Cyrene (; ; c. 435 – c. 356 BCE) was a hedonistic Greek philosopher and the founder of the Cyrenaic school of philosophy. He was a pupil of Socrates, but adopted a different philosophical outlook, teaching that the goal of life was to seek pleasure by adapting circumstances to oneself and by maintaining proper control over both adversity and prosperity. His view that pleasure is the only good came to be called ethical hedonism. Despite having two sons, Aristippus identified his daughter Arete as the "intellectual heiress" of his work, resulting in the systematization of his work and the Cyrenaic school of philosophy, by Arete, and her son Aristippus the Younger, Aristippus's grandson, during the later years of his life and after his death.

Life Aristippus, the son of Aritades, was born in Cyrene, Ancient Libya, c. 435 BCE. Having come to Greece to attend the Olympic games, he met and asked Ischomachus about Socrates, resulting in a strong desire to see Socrates, after hearing of his description. Seeking Socrates, he went to Athens and made him his master.

Though a disciple of Socrates, Aristippus wandered both in principle and practice from the teaching and example of his master. Aristippus also told Socrates that he resided in a foreign land in order to escape the trouble of involving himself in the politics of his native city. Despite the backlash he received for his philosophical views, teachings and lifestyle, Aristippus continued his spread of ethical hedonism by imparting his doctrine to his daughter Arete who, in turn, imparted it to her son, Aristippus the Younger, who is said to have reduced it to a system in the Cyrenaic school of philosophy, that Aristippus helped found.

Philosophy

Aristippus's philosophies centered around hedonism. Having been a pupil of Socrates, Aristippus recognized Socrates's enjoyment of things like parties, the drinking of wine and accepting gifts. and that, "every complexion of life, every station and circumstance sat gracefully upon him." Another such report is of Aristippus being reproached for his love of bodily indulgences, to which Aristippus is said to have answered, "It is not abstinence from pleasures that is best, but mastery over them without ever being worsted." not least because the author mentions Theophrastus, who lived a generation after Aristippus. This work, judging by the quotations preserved by Diogenes Laërtius, has also been presumed to have been filled with anecdotes about philosophers and their supposed taste for courtesans or boys.