A History of Greek Economic Thought

by Albert Augustus Trever

CYRENAICS

The Cyrenaics were the forerunners of the Epicureans in their more liberal attitude toward wealth. Aristippus,[^[898]] the founder of the school, was a man of the world, who believed in enjoying life as it came.[^[899]] He held that pleasure was always a good, and that all else was of value only as a means of realizing this end.[^[900]] If consistent, therefore, he must have valued highly moderate wealth. His principle that one should aim to realize the highest degree of pleasure with the least economic expenditure is somewhat analogous to the modern economic doctrine of the smallest means.[^[901]] Bion of Borysthenes became a Cyrenaic in his later life, but his satires are almost entirely lost.[^[902]]