# The Life of Antisthenes of Athens in Diogenes Laertius — WHE Article Discussion (2-739)

**URL:** <https://community.worldhistory.org/t/the-life-of-antisthenes-of-athens-in-diogenes-laertius-whe-article-discussion-2-739/17479>\
**Category:** WHE Articles\
**Created:** [August 26, 2014, 5:53pm UTC](https://community.worldhistory.org/t/the-life-of-antisthenes-of-athens-in-diogenes-laertius-whe-article-discussion-2-739/17479 "2014-08-26T17:53:50Z")\
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**Author:** ![JPryst](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/community.worldhistory.org/jpryst/32/168_2.png) [@JPryst](https://community.worldhistory.org/u/JPryst)\
**Post date:** [August 26, 2014, 5:53pm UTC](https://community.worldhistory.org/t/the-life-of-antisthenes-of-athens-in-diogenes-laertius-whe-article-discussion-2-739/17479/1 "2014-08-26T17:53:50Z")

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Antisthenes (c. 445-365 BCE) was a Greek philosopher who founded the Cynic School of Athens. He was a follower of Socrates and appears in Plato's _Phaedo_ as one of those present at Socrates' death. He is one of the primary interlocutors in Xenophon's works _Memorabilia_ and _Symposium_. Antisthenes, like Crito, was among the older students of Socrates', and Charles Kahn writes that he was regarded as Socrates' most important follower. He believed that virtue could be taught and that only the virtuous were truly noble. It is interesting to note, however, that this claim directly opposed Socrates' view as given by Plato. In Plato's dialogue of the _Meno_, Socrates argues argued that virtue could not be taught (or else noble fathers would have produced noble sons and such was not, empirically, the case), but Antisthenes argued otherwise in that he had learned virtue from Socrates and, therefore, virtue clearly could be taught.

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_This is a companion discussion topic for the original article at [https://www.worldhistory.org/article/739/the-life-of-antisthenes-of-athens-in-diogenes-laer/](https://www.worldhistory.org/article/739/the-life-of-antisthenes-of-athens-in-diogenes-laer/)._

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**Author:** ![system](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/community.worldhistory.org/system/32/30_2.png) [@system](https://community.worldhistory.org/u/system)\
**Post date:** [July 31, 2026, 8:38pm UTC](https://community.worldhistory.org/t/the-life-of-antisthenes-of-athens-in-diogenes-laertius-whe-article-discussion-2-739/17479/2 "2026-07-31T20:38:50Z")

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Unlisted on July 31, 2026, 8:38pm UTC