[3] He was a pupil of Socrates, but adopted a different philosophical outlook, teaching that the goal of life was to seek pleasure by adapting circumstances to oneself and by maintaining proper control over both adversity and prosperity.

[9] After learning the philosophical views and values of Socrates, Aristippus formed a greater interest in pleasure, eventually leading him to popularize and focus more solely on ethical hedonism.

[1] While there he lived luxuriously and sought sensual gratification and the company of the notorious Lais.

[10][11][12] Aristippus also said that he resided in a foreign land in order to escape the trouble of involving himself in the politics of his native city, to Socrates.

[1][12] In Book VI of De architectura, Vitruvius describes Aristippus: It is related of the Socratic philosopher Aristippus that, being shipwrecked and cast ashore on the coast of the Rhodians, he observed geometrical figures drawn thereon, and cried out to his companions: "Let us be of good cheer, for I see the traces of man."

There he fell to discussing philosophical subjects, and presents were bestowed upon him, so that he could not only fit himself out, but could also provide those who accompanied him with clothing and all other necessaries of life.

[5] Having stressed his beliefs, Aristippus admonished his followers to never harm others, and cautioned that the pursuit of pleasure ought to be moderated by moral self-restraint.

[1] Since Aristippus valued pleasure more than Socrates did and found less intrinsic value in virtue, other philosophers, like Plato and Xenophon, supported as well as initiated the accusation that Aristippus had defied and had strayed from Socrates' philosophical teachings.

[24] This work, judging by the quotations preserved by Diogenes Laërtius,[25] has also been presumed to have been filled with anecdotes about philosophers and their supposed taste for courtesans or boys.