Looking for a good read? Here is a recommendation. I have an unusual approach to reviewing books. I review books I feel merit a review. Each review is an opportunity to recommend a book. If I do not think a book is worth reading, I find another book to review. You do not have to agree with everything every author has written (I do not), but the fiction I review is entertaining (and often thought-provoking) and the non-fiction contain ideas worth reading.
Book Review
Diogenes’s Lamp and Life
Reviewed by Mark Lardas
November 16, 2025
“Diogenes: The Rebellious Life and Revolutionary Philosophy of the Original Cynic,” by Inger N.I. Kuin, Basic Books, November 2025, 320 pages, $30.00 (Hardcover), $18.99 (E-book), $24.90 (Audiobook)
Diogenes the Cynic is one of the most famous Ancient Era philosophers. He founded Cynicism, the basis for two other famous ancient schools of philosophy, Epicureanism and Stoicism. He achieved his fame and reputation solely by the example he set. None of his writings exist today, and he probably published nothing during his lifetime.
“Diogenes: The Rebellious Life and Revolutionary Philosophy of the Original Cynic,” by Inger N.I. Kuin, is a biography of his life and a study of Diogenes’s impact on philosophy.
Unlike Socrates, whose thoughts and life were recorded by his disciples (most famously, Plato), Diogenes lacked disciples. No one copied Diogenes’s thoughts for posterity. Kuin pieced together Diogenes’s life from the collection of anecdotes and tales which accumulated about Diogenes. The earliest biography of Diogenes, in Diogenes Laertius’s third century AD “Lives of the Philosophers” was written six centuries after Diogenes the Cynic died.
Kuin admirably fits the pieces together, providing a portrait of Diogenes’s life which appears accurate. Kuin assesses the story of Diogenes’s meeting with Alexander the Great as true. This most famous of anecdotes about Diogenes has the philosopher requesting Alexander to stop blocking the sun from where Diogenes was sitting. Kuin points out it most likely occurred when Alexander passed through Corinth to conquer the Peloponnese, not after Alexander conquered Persia.
Similarly, Kuin develops a coherent picture of Diogenes’s life: birth and youth in Sinope, arrival in Athens and life in the Agora as a philosopher, capture by pirates while traveling and life in Corinth as a slave. He shows how these events developed Diogenes’s view and ultimately the philosophy Diogenes created.
Cynicism, Diogenes’s version, not today’s modern cynicism, advocated living in the moment, eschewing wealth and luxury, total freedom from convention, and living in accord with nature, living on one’s own means. Kuin shows how this led Diogenes to avoid dependence on others. Kuin reveals Diogenes as virtually the only ancient philosopher to condemn slavery on moral grounds.
Kuin also shows how ancient Cynicism influenced philosophy, politics, and religion to the present day. This includes Christianity, for which Cynicism’s ascetic lifestyle (if not the sexual libertinism) appealed. Diogenes’s championing of liberty made him a symbol for revolutionary movements, including French Revolutionaries.
“Diogenes” is a good introduction to the man and his philosophy. It also shows the relevance of Ancient Cynicism in modern society. This book shows how philosophy remains worth studying today.
Mark Lardas, an engineer, freelance writer, historian, and model-maker, lives in League City. His website is marklardas.com.