Cyrenaic Cyrenaic

Cyrenaic - Definition and Overview

The Cyrenaics were an ultra-hedonist group of philosophers founded in the 4th century BC, allegedly by Aristippus of Cyrene, a disciple of Socrates.

The Cyrenaics held that pleasure was the supreme good, but pleasure in the sense of immediate bodily gratifications. This is where they differ from the Epicureans. The Cyrenaics denied any positive value to "mental pleasures," which they identified with anticipation, memory, or trying to end pain in general. They backed their views with the notion that feelings of pleasure and pain, being merely physical motions, can only be known to ourselves.

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