CYRENAICS

cyrenaics, a greek school of philosophy, so called from cyrene, the birthplace of the founder, aristippus (q.v.). it was one of the two earliest socratic schools, and emphasized one side only of the socratic teaching (cf. cynics). socrates, although he held that virtue was the only human good, admitted to a certain extent the importance of its utilitarian side, making happiness at least a subsidiary end of moral action (see ethics). aristippus and his followers seized upon this, and made it the prime factor in existence, denying to virtue any intrinsic value. logic and physical science they held to be useless, for all knowledge is immediate sensation (see protagoras). these sensations are motions ([greek: kineseis]) which (1) are purely subjective, and (2) are painful, indifferent or pleasant, according as they are violent, tranquil or gentle. further they are entirely individual, and can in no way be described as constituting absolute objective knowledge. feeling, therefore, is the only possible criterion alike of knowledge and of conduct. "our modes of being affected ([greek: pathe]) alone are knowable." thus cyrenaicism goes beyond the critical scepticism of the sophists and deduces a single, universal aim for all men, namely pleasure. furthermore, all feeling is momentary and homogeneous. it follows (1) that past and future pleasure have no real existence for us, and (2) that among present pleasures there is no distinction of kind, but only of intensity. socrates had spoken of the higher pleasures of the intellect; the cyrenaics denied the validity of this distinction and said that bodily pleasures as being more simple and more intense are to be preferred. momentary pleasure ([greek: monochronos hedone]), preferably of a carnal kind, is the only good for man. yet aristippus was compelled to admit that some actions which give immediate pleasure entail more than their equivalent of pain. this fact was to him the basis of the conventional distinction of right and wrong, and in this sense he held that regard should be paid to law and custom. it is of the utmost importance that this development of cyrenaic hedonism should be fully realized. to overlook the cyrenaic recognition of social obligation and the hedonistic value of altruistic emotion is a very common expedient of those who are opposed to all hedonistic theories of life. like many of the leading modern utilitarians, they combined with their psychological distrust of popular judgments of right and wrong, and their firm conviction that all such distinctions are based solely on law and convention, the equally unwavering principle that the wise man who would pursue pleasure logically must abstain from that which is usually denominated "wrong" or "unjust." this idea, which occupies a prominent position in systems like those of bentham, volney, and even paley, was evidently of prime importance at all events to the later cyrenaics. developing from this is a new point of practical importance to the hedonism of the cyrenaics. aristippus, both in theory and in practice, insisted that true pleasure belongs only to him who is self-controlled and master of himself. the truly happy man must have [greek: phronesis] (prudence), which alone can save him from falling a prey to mere passion. thus, in the end, aristippus, the founder of the purest hedonism in the history of thought, comes very near not only to the cynics, but to the more cultured hedonism of epicurus and modern thinkers. theodorus, held even more strongly that passing pleasure may be a delusion, and that permanent tranquillity is a truer end of conduct. hegesias denied the possibility of real pleasure and advocated suicide as ensuring at least the absence of pain. anniceris, in whose thought the school reached its highest perfection, declared that true pleasure consists sometimes in self-sacrifice and that sympathy in enjoyment is a real source of happiness. other members of the school were arete, wife of aristippus, aristippus the younger (her son), bio and euhemerus. the cyrenaic ideal was, of course, utterly alien to christianity, and, in general, subsequent thinkers found it an ideal of hopeless pessimism. yet in modern times it has found expression in many ethical and literary works, and it is common also in other ancient non-hellenic literature. there are quatrains in the _rubaiyat_ of omar khayyam and pessimistic verses in ecclesiastes which might have been uttered by aristippus. ("then i commended mirth, because a man hath no better thing than to eat and to drink and to be merry; for that shall abide with him of his labour the days of his life which god giveth him under the sun"). so in byron and heine, and, in a sense, in walter pater (_marius the epicurean_), there is the same tendency to seek relief from the intellectual _cul-de-sac_ in frankly aesthetic satisfaction. thus cyrenaicism did not entirely vanish with its absorption in epicureanism. see hedonism, epicurus; histories of philosophy by zeller, windelband, ueberweg; h. sidgwick, _methods of ethics_ and _outlines of the history of ethics_; j. watson, _hedonistic theories_ (1895); james seth, ethical principles, c. i. (a), (1898); a. wendt, _de philosophia cyrenaica_ (1841); h. von stein, _de philosophia cyrenaica_ (1855); t. gomperz, _greek thinkers_ (eng. trans., vol. ii. bk. iv., _ad fin._, 1905); beare, _greek theories of elementary cognition_; g. van lyng, _om den kyrenaiske skole_ (christiania, 1868); and general ethical text-books. cyrene [mod. _ain shahat-grenna_], the original capital of ancient cyrenaica (q.v.) and one of the greatest of greek colonies. the theraean story of its foundation, as told by herodotus, runs thus. battus (whose true greek name seems to have been aristoteles), a native of thera (santorin), itself a laconian colony, was bidden by the delphic oracle, if he wished to put an end to domestic dissensions, to lead a portion of the citizens to libya and build a city in a "place between waters." (for other stories see battus.) by this he understood an island, and therefore established his followers on the barren islet of platea in the gulf of bomba. the colony being unsuccessful made further application to the oracle and was bidden to transfer itself to the mainland. the libyan barbarians reported that a fertile and well-watered district lay to the west and were induced to act as guides. they brought the greeks through forests to high ground from various points of which issued springs, and battus, recognizing "a place between waters," began to build. this was in the middle of the 7th century b.c. the result was cyrene, so called (it was said) from a local nymph, who has been shown by studniczka to have been a nature goddess, like the greek artemis. the point first occupied was probably the hill above the "apollo" fountain on the west; and there was erected the fortress-palace of the battiadae, who continued to rule the colony for eight generations. the neighbouring libyans were conciliated and given a position similar to that of laconian _perioeci_, and intermarriage between them and greeks became so frequent that the colony rapidly assumed a somewhat hybrid character, and while being one of the centres of hellenic culture, showed barbarian characteristics of violence and luxury. battus i. reigned c. 630 to 590 b.c. and was succeeded by his son arcesilaus (c. 590-574) of whom nothing is known. the kings henceforth bore alternately the names battus and arcesilaus, of which the first is said to be simply the native libyan word for "king": the latter is, of course, greek. this fact suggests that some compromise with the natives had been come to, resulting, perhaps, in an alternation of the supreme office. under battus ii. (570 b.c.?) a fresh band of settlers was invited from greece, and the colony tended to become henceforth more maritime and democratic. its port, apollonia (marsa susa), now rose to importance: and a second (winter) port was created at naustathmos (marsa hilal) about 15 m. e. behind a sheltering cape. fine roads were cut through the rock connecting these harbours with the capital. trouble followed, however, with the libyans, who saw themselves robbed in favour of the new settlers, and they called in egyptian help; but the force sent by apries was defeated near the spring theste, and presently amasis of egypt made peace and took a battiad princess to wife. under arcesilaus ii. (c. 560-550) domestic dissensions and libyan revolt led to the founding of a rival inland city, barca, and a severe defeat and massacre. these misfortunes, coupled with the fact that battus iii. was thought to have disgraced the house by his lameness, prompted the cyrenaeans to send to delphi for more advice, and as a result demonax of mantinea arrived as arbitrator and framed a constitution limiting the monarchy and dividing the citizens tribally according to the date of their settlement and their place of origin. further attempts of the battiadae (e.g. of pheretima, wife of battus