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Ancient Greek philosophical movement

The Cyrenaics or Kyrenaics (Κυρηναϊκοί), were a sensual hedonist Greek school of philosophy founded in the 4th century BCE, supposedly by Aristippus of Cyrene, although many of the principles of the school are believed to have been formalized by his grandson of the same name, Aristippus the Younger. The school was so called after Cyrene, the birthplace of Aristippus. It was one of the earliest Socratic schools. The Cyrenaics taught that the only intrinsic good is pleasure, which meant not just the absence of pain (as it did for Epicurus), but positively enjoyable sensations. Of these, momentary pleasures, especially physical ones, are stronger than those of anticipation or memory. Further, they recognized the value of social obligation and that pleasure could be gained from altruistic behaviour. The school died out within a century and was replaced by the philosophy of Epicureanism.

The history of the Cyrenaic school begins with Aristippus of Cyrene, who was born around 435 BCE. He came to Athens as a young man and became a pupil of Socrates. We have only limited knowledge of his movements after the execution of Socrates in 399 BCE, although he is said to have lived for a time in the court of Dionysius of Syracuse. It is uncertain precisely which doctrines ascribed to the Cyrenaic school were formulated by Aristippus. Diogenes Laërtius, based on the authority of Sotion and Panaetius, provided a long list of books said to have been written by Aristippus. However, Diogenes also wrote that Sosicrates had stated that Aristippus had written nothing. Among Aristippus' pupils was his daughter, Arete of Cyrene, and among her pupils was her son Aristippus the Younger. It was he, according to Aristocles, who created a comprehensive system. At the least, however, it can be said that the foundations of Cyrenaic philosophy were ideas originated by the elder Aristippus, refined by Arete, and then further refined by Aristippus the Younger. After the time of the younger Aristippus, the school broke up into different factions, represented by Anniceris, Hegesias, and Theodorus, who all developed rival interpretations of Cyrenaic doctrines, many of which were responses to the new system of hedonistic philosophy laid down by Epicurus. By the middle of the 3rd century BC, the Cyrenaic school was obsolete; Epicureanism had successfully beaten its Cyrenaic rivals by offering a system which was more sophisticated.

The Cyrenaics were hedonists and held that pleasure was the supreme good in life, especially physical pleasure, which they thought more intense and more desirable than mental pleasures. Pleasure is the only good in life and pain is the only evil. Socrates had held that virtue was the only human good, but he had also accepted a limited role for its utilitarian side, allowing pleasure to be a secondary goal of moral action. Aristippus and his followers seized upon this, and made pleasure the sole final goal of life, denying that virtue had any intrinsic value.

The Cyrenaics were known for their skeptical theory of knowledge. They reduced logic to a basic doctrine concerning the criterion of truth. They thought that we can know with certainty our immediate sense experiences (for instance, that I am having a sweet sensation now) but can know nothing about the nature of the objects that cause these sensations (for instance, that the honey is sweet). All knowledge is of one's own immediate sensation. These sensations are motions which are purely subjective, and 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 being of the world objectively. Feeling, therefore, is the only possible criterion of knowledge and of conduct. However some actions which give immediate pleasure can create more than their equivalent of pain. The wise person should be in control of pleasures rather than be enslaved to them, otherwise pain will result, and this requires judgement to evaluate the different pleasures of life. Regard should be paid to law and custom, because even though these things have no intrinsic value on their own, violating them will lead to unpleasant penalties being imposed by others. but Anniceris laid great emphasis on the love of family, country, friendship and gratitude, which provide pleasure even when they demand sacrifice. Hegesias believed that eudaimonia is impossible to achieve, For Hegesias, Cyrenaic hedonism was simply the least irrational strategy for dealing with the pains of life. and he placed greater emphasis on the need for moderation and justice. He was also famous for being an atheist. In fact, there are striking similarities with the tenets of Buddhism, It is therefore sometimes thought that Hegesias may have been directly influenced by Buddhist teachings through contacts with the alleged missionaries sent to his rulers in the 3rd century BC.

The Cyrenaic ideal was alien to Christianity, and, in general, subsequent thinkers found it an ideal of hopeless pessimism. Yet in much later times it has found expression in many ethical and literary works, and it is common also in other ancient non Hellenic literature. According to the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, there are quatrains in the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam and pessimistic verses in the book of Ecclesiastes which might have been uttered by Aristippus. So in Byron and Heine 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.