- Anniceris
Anniceris ( _el. Ἀννίκερις), was an ancient Greek
Cyrenaic philosopher, who lived in the late 4th century BC.He was a disciple of
Paraebates , the student ofAristippus , and theSuda says he lived at the time ofAlexander the Great (ruled 336–323 BC). [Suda, "Anniceris".] The story that Anniceris ransomedPlato from Dionysius, tyrant of Syracuse for twenty minas, [Diogenes Laërtius, ii.] must refer to an earlier Anniceris, possibly the celebrated charioteer mentioned by Aelian. [Aelian, "Varia Historia", ii. 27.]He denied that pleasure was merely the absence of pain, for if so death would be a pleasure; and furthermore he denied that pleasure is the "general" end of human life. To each separate action there is a "particular" end, namely the pleasure which actually results from it.
In both these statements he reasserted the principles of
Aristippus . However, he differed from Aristippus because he allowed that friendship, patriotism, and similar virtues, were good in themselves; saying that the wise person will derive pleasure from such qualities, even though they cause him occasional trouble, and that a friend should be chosen not only for our own need, but for kindness and natural affection.He also denied that reason ( _el. ὁ λόγος) alone can secure us from error; the wise person is the person who has acquired a habit of wise action; human wisdom is liable to lapses at any moment. [Diogenes Laërtius, ii.; Clement of Alexandria, "Stromata". ii.]
References
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