Cynicism And Aesthetics

The cynics(Kynics)refer to an ancient Greek philosophy school inherited from Socrates.By virtue of reverting to nature,the cynics promoted a life of abstinence and suffering,presenting a coarse and dirty image of the body,and at the same time in the demeanour,shameless,to express a cynical,anti-secular concept,thus became the rebels in the city of Athens.Modern cynics(Cynics)has changed a lot in content compared to it in ancient Greek period,pointing more to negative values such as decadence,nothingness,callous,numbness and cynicsm.But there is still some commonality in the great differences between the two.From the perspective of aesthetics,it is of great significance to understand the concept of "cynicism" in terms of identity,rational use,perceptual display,artistic creation and living condition.The Kynics used the body as a weapon to attack the normal and order they denied,using "cheekiness" as a metaphor for "changing the value of currency",trying to lead the world to a kind of "real life";the cynics has abandoned the tradition of "cheekiness","Hiding in the sea of people",and gradually subordinate to the secular order and power.From the naked body of nature to the civilized and docile body,from the practice of animal nature to the general lack of meaning,from the"philosophical life" advocated by the ancient Greek Kynics,to the contemporary philosophy of living,the constant concealment of the body suggests that the cynicism has changed the path of self-identification and is increasingly becoming a "stray dog"that has lost its spiritual home.The great transformation of the image of cynicism first points to the role of cynical reason.The classical Kynics show their philosophical ideas in concrete ways,and exemplifies truth and the courage to speak the truth with their bodies,reflecting a high degree of consistency of "knowledge" and "action";cynicism is enlightened false consciousness,that is,the enlightenment helps the subject to acquire the rational ability,letting the false consciousness producing the immunity to the criticism at the same time,so the false consciousness is already reflexively buffered,thus the cynical reason is regenerated.Under the protection of cynical reason,the subject is good at splitting "knowledge" and "action",and is willing to meet the ideological interest in the premise of "self-knowledge".In different time contexts,the old and new cynicism showed a very different image and temperament.The ancient Greek kynics actively pursued "disgrace",and their dirty,broken body image and out-of-line behavior were linked to "scandal",which leading to the value of "Ugliness";And in both real and literary works,the cynics have been portrayed as changeable and uncertain,either decadent or full of destructive exuberance.The "split personality" has a prominent presence in them,and the value is completely dispelled.The cynicism radiates a strong postmodernism within "hiding from the sublime".If you look at the cynicism in an aesthetic light,you can not ignore its extension in literary and artistic practice.It is helpful to understand the "beauty" and "ugliness"of the cynicism in life and art through analyzing the aesthetic expression of cynicism.The classical kynicism had an impact on the art of the Renaissance and the Enlightenment,such as the cynicism principle embodied in the folk art of humour represented by Rabelais;Contemporary cynicism are regarded as synonyms for"Postmodemity".From the artist's life to the creation of works of art,the modern works of art and literature have a unique understanding and interpretation of "reality".We can find its infiltrate in art forms such as naturalism,neorealism,decadence,Dadaism,pop art,etc:Modern art is a vehicle for cynicism,embodying the principle of combining the style of life with the display of truth.However,since ancient times,the survival of cynicism is not satisfactory,especially the contemporary cynicism,which is often regarded as a social disease,is often the object of criticism.One turns to whether the tradition of cheekiness,or the fading of conscience and Monarchical Morality,or the restoration of reason to try to cure the social ills of cynicism infection.In fact,without correcting the division of"knowledge" and "action" under cynicism,"action" will never be possible,and happiness will be far away.Cynicism will always be in the escape of "freedom",becoming the "tragic and unfortunate spirit of thought".