Abstract

The aim of this article is to provide a critical appraisal of the role played by Cynicism in the Dissertations of the second-century Platonist Maximus of Tyre. Usually understood as a soft Cynicism with a primarily cultural significance, Maximus’ position deserves more philosophical attention than it has hitherto received. This study focuses on elements that allow a philosophical reassessment of his view. Perfectly placed within his educated context, Maximus’ sanitized and elegant Cynicism can be read as an effort to go back to the basics and recover the Socratic model, rather than as the result of a distorting mirror