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Aristippus
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Agathon (centre) greeting guests in "Plato's Symposium" oil on canvas by Anselm Feuerbach, 1869; in the Staatliche Kunsthalle, Karlsruhe, Germany.
Philosophy 101
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Born:
c. 435 bce, Cyrene, Libya
Died:
c. 356, Athens [Greece]
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Aristippus

Greek philosopher
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History

Aristippus (born c. 435 bce, Cyrene, Libya—died c. 356, Athens [Greece]) was a philosopher who was one of Socrates’ disciples and the founder of the Cyrenaic school of hedonism, the ethic of pleasure. The first of Socrates’ disciples to demand a salary for teaching philosophy, Aristippus believed that the good life rests upon the belief that among human values pleasure is the highest and pain the lowest (and one that should be avoided). He also warned his students to avoid inflicting as well as suffering pain. Like Socrates, Aristippus took great interest in practical ethics. While he believed that men should dedicate their lives to the pursuit and enjoyment of pleasure, he also believed that they should use good judgment and exercise self-control to temper powerful human desires. His motto was, “I possess, I am not possessed.” None of his writings survive.

(Read Peter Singer’s Britannica entry on ethics.)

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