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person~328–285 BCE

Crates of Thebes

Disciplines:
philosophy
philosophy/cynicism
athens

Summary

Greek Cynic philosopher who was Zeno of Citium's teacher — and who famously gave away his considerable wealth to live as a homeless philosopher on the streets of Athens — representing the most radical form of philosophical indifference to social convention.

Core Contribution

Demonstrates the Cynic foundation of Stoicism — Zeno learned from Crates that virtue is the only good and that social conventions are indifferent — and the radical life-philosophy that preceded Stoicism's more socially accommodating version of the same insight.

Historical Influences

Diogenes of Sinope Cynic tradition

Intellectual Lineage

Thebes Diogenes of Sinope

Contemporaries & Peers

Zeno Diogenes

Minds Influenced

Zeno of Citium Stoic tradition Jonathan Bi

Intellectual Posterity

Crates as Zeno's teacherCynic tradition

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Crates of Thebes

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