CINISM CLASIC, CINISM MODERN ŞI IMPLICAŢII PENTRU PROCESUL DEMOCRATIC
KYNICISM, CYNICISM AND IMPLICATION FOR THE DEMOCRATIC PROCESS
Oana MATEI
Catedra de Ştiinţe Sociale şi Politice, Facultatea de Ştiinţe Umaniste, Politice şi
Administrative, Universitatea de Vest „Vasile Goldiş” din Arad
Tel: 0040-257-282324
E-mail: oanamatei@yahoo.com
ABSTRACT
Several scholars state that one of the biggest problems facing our democracies today is cynicism. Inspired from the ancient Greek philosophy, cynicism is different from the ancient kynicism. While kynicism claims a life lived according to nature, in complete harmony of body and soul, cynicism involves a life lived in suspicions and distrust. Kynicism and cynicism both criticize the political process; both do not trust politics or political figures. The distinction between kynicism and cynicism is due to the fact that a cynical person rejects any kind of convention and despises what he considers to be false judgement, insisting on living his life according to nature, while cynical a person has not initially rejected social conventions and the system of values shared by society; the education process in our society makes him confused and skeptic regarding the value system shared by society and makes him notice the relativity of social conventions. The way chosen by a kynic implies a life lived according to a specific ethics with specific moral laws, while the way chosen by
a cynic implies a life with no morality and lack of values.
Key words: kynicism, cynicism, enlightened consciousness, false enlightened consciousness, morality, democratic participation, democratic implication.