Cynicism - a Commonly Used Concept with Relevance to Mental Health
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Isr J Psychiatry - Vol. 56 - No 3 (2019) DAFNA SOFRIN FRUMER ET AL. Cynicism - A Commonly Used Concept with Relevance to Mental Health Dafna Sofrin Frumer, BA,1 Shirel Dorman Ilan, PhD,1 Yael Fishman, MA,1 Ronnie Weinberger, PhD,1 and Doron Gothelf, MD 1,2 1 Child Psychiatry Division, Edmond and Lily Safra Children’s Hospital, Sheba Medical Center, Ramat Gan, Israel 2 Sackler Faculty of Medicine and Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel behavior. For example, a cynic can refer to individuals ABSTRACT who declare they are driven by positive values, such as altruism, when in fact, from the cynic’s perspective, the Research on cynicism is relatively neglected in psychology declarations are false and are motivated by selfish desires and psychiatry literature. In this article, we address the for such things as money and power (1). Cynics tend to history of the concept of cynicism, the psychological create varying degrees of discomfort and unease among aspects of cynicism, including its developmental people by highlighting seemingly sincere pronounce- characteristics and the perception of cynicism as a ments and deeds of others and ridiculing them, pointing defense mechanism, and potential patho-psychological out that the others are actually disingenuous (2). mechanisms, leading to what we define as cynical One of the main tools employed by the cynic to draw personality disorder. We conclude with recommendations attention to his or her observation of the discrepancy for potential psychotherapeutic interventions in the between ideal and the quotidian practice is sarcasm. treatment of individuals who are characterized by a Sarcasm is a sharp or bitter expression or remark that cynical personality. conveys a meaning opposite of its literal meaning, and is designed to mock someone or convey contempt (3). Sarcasm in spoken language is often conveyed by using a slow, usually low tone intonation that sounds sardonic. An example of a sarcastic sentence is: “You have been such INTRODUCTION a good husband over the years,” coupled with a slow and The term “cynical” or “cynicism” is increasingly used in low tone intonation that conveys the message that the daily conversation and appears ever more frequently in wife is unhappy with her husband’s attitude towards her. the media. Our literature search found, however, that little Sarcastic comments can be perceived as humorous, but in academic or professional literature has been published in reality they are frequently offensive and humiliating to about cynicism in general, and even less about cynicism’s the subject of the comments when he or she hears them. psychological underpinnings. The purpose of the current Sarcasm may even be perceived as verbal abuse, which article is to review the history of the concept of cynicism bears aggressive intent (4). The cynic often uses sarcasm and elaborate on the pertinent psychological and psychiatric as a tool and is sometimes perceived as embittered (2). aspects of cynicism that we believe are of relevance and importance to clinicians in the mental health field. THE ANCIENT PHILOSOPHICAL ROOTS OF CYNICISM The philosophical movement known as Cynicism origi- DEFINITIONS AND EXAMPLES nated in Ancient Greece in the late 5th century CE. The It is commonly understood that the cynic believes people philosopher Antisthenes (365-445 CE), a notable and avid are motivated purely by self-interest (1). The cynic, skep- pupil of Socrates, is considered the founder of Cynicism. tical about the motivation of human actions, typically Antisthenes adopted and developed Socrates’ ideas about draws attention to allegedly hypocritical aspects of human living a life of virtue, characterized by hardiness with little Address for Correspondence: Prof. Doron Gothelf, MD, Child Psychiatry Division, Edmond and Lily Safra Children’s Hospital, Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer 5262000, Israel [email protected] 3 CYNICISM - A COMMONLY USED CONCEPT WITH RELEVANCE TO MENTAL HEALTH room for emotions. Antisthenes took these ideas to the time. However, the movement disappeared with the fall extreme and lived an ascetic life, claiming that he “would of the Roman Empire in the late 5th century CE (10). rather be mad than feel pleasure” (5). Whereas Socrates used irony and humor Antisthenes replaced these with THE EVOLUTION OF MODERN CYNICISM earnestness and disapproval. The school of thought devel- After cynicism disappeared from ancient Rome, it re- oped by Antisthenes and his followers came to be knows emerged in the Renaissance era. Cynicism was used by as Cynicism or the Cynic Philosophical Movement (5). writers in satire and parody as a means to criticize the values The Cynics claimed that “the greater surplus of pleasures of society (2). These resurgent cynics resembled the ancient a person achieves, the greater surplus of pleasures he Cynic philosophers in their contempt toward pleasure, desires in the nearest future” (6). They believed that the and in their disposition to expose the faults of the society. incessant preoccupation and unending quest of individuals In the 18th century, Jean-Jacques Rousseau played a to achieve such “pleasures” leaves the individual at risk of central role in the modern evolution of cynicism, and was “being tormented by anxiety and terror” being plagued in fact often compared to Diogenes (10). In Discourse on by constant anguish and dread by the thought they may the Science and Arts (1750) Rousseau radically contra- never reach their “desirable amount of pleasures or that dicted the Enlightenment assumption that advances in they would lose the pleasures they already possess” (6). art and science led to moral improvement in mankind. According to the Cynics the remedy to human suffering He argued instead that these advances led to corruption is to return to natural life – “temperance” (6) and to reject of manners and morals. Akin to Diogenes, he preached the advances of civilization and materialistic pleasures that against contemporary civilization, insisting that the social they believed could never lead to happiness, tranquility forms and codes in his environment were artificial, and or contentment. Thus the Cynic philosophical movement that social institution, such as marriage, stemmed from was considered the first uprising against the principles of selfish motives (10). Rousseau’s autobiographical writ- civilization in the history of western thought (6). ings published after his death surprised even his sympa- Perhaps the most archetypical figure in the Cynicism thizers. In particular, readers realized that in spite of his philosophical movement was Diogenes of Sinope. Diogenes radical demands on parents regarding their obligations to adopted Antisthenes’ principles in the extreme, and his their children’s education, Rousseau himself gave up his unconventional behaviors included living in a barrel in the five children to an orphanage. They also discovered that marketplace, defacing the local currency and performing all although throughout his life he expressed hatred towards the of his bodily functions in public, including defecating and establishment and aristocracy, he actually had always been masturbating (5). Thus the Cynic philosophical movement financially dependent on the favors of French aristocrats. was considered the first uprising against the principles of The exposure of Rousseau, the cynic, as a moral hypocrite civilization in the history of western thought (6). Diogenes led to a change in the conception of cynicism and came to was named by the citizens of ancient Athens- kyôn, from mean a hypocritical gap between words and deeds (10). the ancient Greek word κύων (kyôn), meaning “dog” (7), It is the 19th century historian Isaac D’Israeli who being the source of the word cynic, as his wild behavior can be considered the person who gave “cynicism” its was considered similar to the behavior of dogs (8). modern-day meaning. In his book The Quarrels of Authors Diogenes and his followers adopted these demeaning (1814) (11), D’Israeli labeled the political philosopher expressions as defining and bragged that they adopted Hobbes as a cynic, as Hobbes claimed that people are the natural way of life of dogs. That is, they ate, made selfish and immoral by nature and only pretend to have love in public, went barefoot, and slept outdoors, just altruistic motives for their behavior (11). This was the first as free and shameless, they said as dogs in the streets or recorded use of the concept of cynicism in its current, fields. Diogenes claimed that similar to a dog, the Cynic now familiar, sense – a disposition to disbelieve in the quickly distinguishes between its friends and enemies, sincerity or goodness of human motives and actions (10). and without any hypocrisy “barks” at those who disagree with him. The “dog” became the most associated symbol DIFFERENCES AND SIMILARITIES BETWEEN ANCIENT AND of the Cynic movement, and after the death of Diogenes, MODERN CYNICISM a sculpture of a dog was placed on his grave (9). The Cynic of Ancient Greece differs significantly from The Cynic movement spread with the rise of the Roman the modern cynic. The ancient Cynic was optimistic Empire in the 1st century CE and became popular for a about human nature and about society’s ability to change. 4 DAFNA SOFRIN FRUMER ET AL. Consequently, he preached to others to join his ascetic coined the expression “fake news.” In doing so, Trump life, as a part of a journey to a happier life. The ancient actually claims that the media makes cynical use of the Cynic was willing to make sacrifices in order to fulfill the news by distorting it to improve ratings (16). There are values he believed in. He chose to live on the fringes of detrimental consequences to cynicism in the realm of society and criticized it from the outside (6). In contrast, politics as it distances citizens from the government the modern cynic demonstrates pessimism and nihilism and makes qualified individuals reluctant to engage in about the ability of humans to detach from their selfish politics (14, 17).