Antisthenes
~445–365 BCE
“A forerunner of the Cynics and friend of Socrates, he taught that virtue alone suffices for happiness.”
The four dimensions in the 16-axis model where this thinker scores highest. People in this archetype tend to lean the same way.
- ATAscetic Tendency9 / 10
- SRSkeptical Reflex8 / 10
- SSSovereign Self8 / 10
- WPWill to Power7 / 10
The six thinkers whose 16-dimensional positions sit closest to this one. Useful as next-reading suggestions.
- Diogenes of SinopeHAMMER
Lived in a barrel. Called himself a citizen of the cosmos. Rejected convention to live according to nature.
- Emma GoldmanPILGRIM
In Anarchism and Other Essays, liberty answers only to itself.
- Linji YixuanHAMMER
Rinzai Zen — kill the Buddha if you meet him; nothing to find.
- Auguste BlanquiHAMMER
Revolutionary by trade — eternity by the stars in a prison cell.
- Paul FeyerabendPILGRIM
Against Method makes the case for epistemological anarchism: anything goes.
- Henry David ThoreauPILGRIM
Walden urges us to simplify, simplify, and to put conscience over civil law.
Short exercises in the same tradition as Antisthenes's thought. Each takes 5–25 minutes.
Three doors lead onward.
- 01 · QUIZThe InheritorFind your archetype — discover whether you'd argue with Antisthenes or alongside them.CONTINUE ▶
- 02 · COMPAREAntisthenes vs Diogenes of SinopeOn Mull's map Diogenes of Sinope sits closest. See where they agree and where they part.CONTINUE ▶
- 03 · DAILYToday's SparOne philosopher, one topic, five minutes. A new one drops every day.CONTINUE ▶