He retired and was named Stuart Professor Emeritus in 2002.Īllen was born in Lexington, Kentucky, on Oct. He was named the Stuart Professor in 1981, according to a seminary press release.
#Diogenes quest full
He joined the seminary faculty in 1967 as associate professor of philosophy, and became a full professor in 1974. 13, 2013, at the age of 80 in hospice care at Chandler Hall, Newtown, Pennsylvania. Diogenes Allen, a distinguished scholar in the field of the philosophy of religion, and the Stuart Professor of Philosophy emeritus at Princeton Theological Seminary, died on Jan. Would I qualify if he shined his lantern’s beam in my direction?ĭick Hirsch is a longtime contributor to the Opinion page. Were Diogenes alive today, some may wonder how that dauntless Greek would rank us if we encountered him while shopping at the mall. Are there fewer honest men today? That is a question that is easy to ask in a situation like this, but impossible to answer. Life is more complicated than centuries ago when Diogenes embarked on his mission. Those are just some of the most visible trouble spots. In education, some teachers inflate grades while others sleep with students. Where once there was infinite trust, now there is lingering suspicion. In many cases corporate bosses are undone by greed and criminal behavior. Fabulist works for me: “A liar, especially a person who invents elaborate, dishonest tales.” If you have been paying attention, you probably know who I mean.įabulism pervades areas other than politics. That is a word I’ve never used before, but I cringe at using the term “liar” even though the candidates themselves seem comfortable using it to characterize the opposition. One of the candidates has proven to be a true fabulist. Newspapers and networks have been trying to keep pace with the rhetoric and enumerate the many assertions that have no basis in fact. The current presidential campaign has provided an unrelenting barrage of unproven charges. The public is eternally suspicious of their motives. As a group they long ago lost the confidence of the public. isn’t alone regarding the truthfulness of public officials. It is a situation that transcends borders the U.S. Throughout history, an endless cavalcade of political candidates has contributed to the erosion of public confidence in those who seek or hold public office. So the question remains: In whom do we place our trust? He never convinced me, although I learned not to trust him and always wondered whether he trusted me.
It was simple: “Trust nobody,” he often asserted. Whom do we trust today? There are some honest folk, or are there? In my youth I had a boss who repeatedly attempted to convert me with his philosophy. What would Diogenes find today? Would his lantern be extinguished, a rueful admission that his was an impossible quest? Most importantly, he carved for himself an enduring niche in history by trekking through cities and villages in a valiant and unending search for an honest man. He begged for alms, relying on the charity of others. He was a Greek philosopher, a cynic, and he paid little attention to the basic elements of a normal life. We have an image of him prowling the streets of Athens and out in the countryside, holding his lantern high in a fruitless quest for an honest man. It was such a noble effort and ended in such a dismal failure.ĭiogenes spent his life searching for an honest man. I’ve always admired Diogenes for his determination in pursuing his dream and grieved for him because he died before he could complete his mission.
That’s probably because he died in 323 B.C. You know Diogenes, right? No? It sounds familiar to so many people, but they just can’t place him. Yes, he is a newsworthy character, but I was thinking of his namesake, the original Diogenes, the historical figure. No, not that Diogenes-not the one who runs that popular Greek restaurant and sells that remarkable rice pudding. I was thinking about Diogenes the other day.
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