Talk:Antisthenes

Diogenes of Sinope
It has become the fashion of modern scholars to promulgate doubt about certain statements in certain sources for apparently arbitrary reasons but it is not the role of an encyclopedia to simply parrot them as if they were measured facts. The casual doubt cast here about Antisthenes meeting Diogenes of Sinope is a textbook example as it does not account for any specific issues with the sources (here Diogenes Laërtius) per se. It is known that Diogenes Laërtius relied on some secondary sources of lesser value but it is not clear whether this section is one of them. Surely all historical texts are subject to at least some level of doubt? And surely there are gradients of doubt and defensible justifications for them but these are not present here and have not been made clearer by recent scholars such as Navia even. Either way, I'm pretty sure you'll find confirmation in Dio Chrysostom's account of the meeting between Diogenes of Sinope and Antisthenes so I'm unsure why we need these unreferenced problematisations. Please contact me if you want to work on this or go ahead and remove the questionable content if that is your bag Silverwood (talk) 15:32, 25 March 2010 (UTC)


 * Why don't you simply credit the tales and, if recent scholars express doubt, drop the doubt into a footnote?--Wetman (talk) 17:00, 25 March 2010 (UTC)


 * Agreed. Silverwood (talk) 09:28, 29 March 2010 (UTC)


 * I've put in a line or two (with references this time) about the doubts some scholars have about Diogenes being a pupil of Antisthenes. This is a matter of open debate in textbooks about the ancient Cynics, and it seems to me reasonable to mention this debate in an Encyclopedia article on Antisthenes. Others (and I know that Navia is one) tend to favour the ancient reports, so feel free to add that side of the debate as well if you want. I'm fairly neutral on the issue, but I think it's worth mentioning. Singinglemon (talk) 17:50, 30 March 2010 (UTC)
 * Okay, I've added in the case for the defence as well. It should hopefully be satisfactory. Singinglemon (talk) 21:00, 30 March 2010 (UTC)


 * Thanks for the work, Singinglemon. Your standards of balance and extensive knowledge of the subject are a real asset. I noticed you have been quiet for a few months and it is good to have you back around. Silverwood (talk) 14:24, 31 March 2010 (UTC)

To add to article
In order to help make this article more encyclopedic, can we add what his name meant in Ancient Greek? Also, was this name given to him at birth or did he acquire it later in his life? 76.190.213.189 (talk) 76.190.213.189 (talk) 21:01, 20 January 2024 (UTC)