In this book, cynicism and skepticism are not value-judged and contrasted; neither does skepticism fall into one-sided negative criticism, nor is cynicism recommended as the sole antidote to the cynical corruption of reason. The book refrains from moralizing and does not present an enemy image or an identification figure; it is therefore significantly cooler than Peter Sloterdijk's later critique of cynical reason and drier. It clarifies the process through which the modern concept has emerged from the ancient, in a close intertwining of continuity and change. This requires presenting cynicism as the starting point and potential of this process, which is not so much about defining a philosophical curriculum and reproducing a systematic doctrine—here, "school" can only be mentioned with great reservations.