Cynicism: A Note on the Philosophical School

Cynicism is a word that has suffered a strange fate. In everyday speech, it now evokes images of distrust, sarcasm, and a cold detachment from ideals. To call someone a cynic today is often to accuse them of having lost faith in the goodness of people or the possibility of noble action. And yet, in its ancient origins, Cynicism was anything but nihilistic. It was, in fact, a call to radical authenticity, a philosophy that dared to strip life to its barest essentials in pursuit of freedom, v...