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Friedrich Nietzsche
(470–399 B.C.E.) Socrates was an ancient Greek philosopher. One of Nietzsche’s central purposes in Twilight of the Idols is to challenge and discredit the philosophers, moralists, and ideals that history has placed on a pedestal, and Socrates receives the brunt of Nietzsche’s ire. Indeed, Nietzsche dedicates an entire section of the book, “The Problem of Socrates,” to airing his grievances against Socrates for introducing dialectics into western philosophy via the Socratic method, a form of intellectual investigation that draws on dialogue and discussion. Nietzsche believes that Socrates’s fixation on logic and rationality—which has shaped the trajectory of western philosophy—has allowed weaker philosophical positions to gain traction and, correspondingly, stifled more vital philosophical positions. Socratic philosophy has also instilled in humanity an immense skepticism toward the physical world, and Nietzsche believes that this skepticism has devalued human life and, as such, is to blame for the decadence and nihilism that characterizes modernity. He believes that a central flaw of Socratic philosophy (and its descendants) is its mistaken belief that logic—not instinct—causes happiness.
Socrates Quotes in Twilight of the Idols
The Twilight of the Idols quotes below are all either spoken by Socrates or refer to Socrates . For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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The Problem of Socrates Quotes
In every age the wisest have passed the identical judgement on life: it is worthless. … Everywhere and always their mouths have uttered the same sound—a sound full of doubt, full of melancholy, full of weariness with life, full of opposition to life.
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In “The Problem of Socrates,” Nietzsche lays out the origins of society’s obsession with unattainable idols/ideals, which he traces back to Socrates. Nietzsche blames Socrates for introducing logic and rationality into mainstream philosophical thought. Reason and rationality, Nietzsche argues, have taught humanity to be skeptical of the observable world and human instinct. This skepticism, in turn, has made people “full of doubt, full of melancholy, full of weariness with life, full of opposition to life.” And all this is to blame for the nihilism and decadence that characterizes the modern world. This passage is important because it outlines the traits Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debit
Judgements, value judgements concerning life, for or against, can in the last resort never be true: they possess value only as symptoms, they come into consideration only as symptoms—in themselves such judgements are stupidities. One must reach out and try to grasp this astonishing finesse, that the value of life cannot be estimated.
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In “The Problem of Socrates,” Nietzsche describes how the nihilism and decadence that characterize the modern world came to be. He attributes their hold on modern intellectual culture to Socratic philosophy, which values argumentative discourse and reason, and which taught humanity to use logic and rationality to view themselves and the surrounding world with skepticism and doubt. By examining the world critically and rationally, Socrates held, people could make “value judgments concerning life” and decide what is right versus wrong, good versus evil. Socrates also proposed that reason, virtue, and happiness are interconnected. But Nietzsche disagrees with this perspective. He Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia solut
“Reason” in Philosophy Quotes
All that philosophers have handled for millennia has been conceptual mummies; nothing actual has escaped from their hands alive.
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In “‘Reason’” in Philosophy,” Nietzsche expands on his critique of reason in western philosophy. In this passage, which occurs at the beginning of “‘Reason’ in Philosophy,” Nietzsche critiques philosophers’ idolatry of the past. When Nietzsche claims that philosophers have only dealt with “conceptual mummies,” he’s alluding to the way that philosophers uphold and idealize old values—in particular, Socrates’ obsession with reason—instead of creating new ones. Nietzsche’s opposition to worshipping past values is the central theme of Twilight of the Idols. He thinks that worshipping unexamined old ideas is bad for humanity because it suppresses humanity’s natural instinct to evolve and Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt
We possess scientific knowledge today to precisely the extent that we have decided to accept the evidence of the senses—to the extent that we have learned to sharpen and arm them and to think them through to their conclusions.
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In “‘Reason’ in Philosophy,” Nietzsche debunks the idea proposed by Socrates (and which has been a core idea of western philosophy ever since) that reason—and not the senses—gives way to absolute truth. Nietzsche doesn’t think that empirical “scientific knowledge” and “the senses” are mutually exclusive. Rather, he sees reason as a consequence of the senses: “We possess scientific knowledge today to precisely the extent that we have decided to accept the evidence of the senses,” argues Nietzsche. Put simply, our senses are what give us the ability to reason and think critically. Reason doesn’t happen outside of the body: it Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempor
To talk about ‘another’ world than this is quite pointless, provided that an instinct for slandering, disparaging and accusing life is not strong within us: in the latter case we revenge ourselves on life by means of the phantasmagoria of ‘another’, a ‘better’ life.
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In “‘Reason’ in Philosophy,” Nietzsche challenges the idea put forth by ancient philosophers like Plato (and embraced by many western philosophers thereafter) that there exist two kinds of being: material and immaterial. The material world is that which we can discern with our senses, and the immaterial world is the world of ideals. Whereas pre-Socratic philosophers mostly trusted the senses, Socrates’s introduction of dialectical thinking into western philosophy taught people to distrust their instincts and, by extension, question the reality of the physical, material world. This kind of thinking also taught them that the immaterial world of ideas and knowledge Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nis
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Socrates Character Timeline in Twilight of the Idols
The timeline below shows where the character Socrates appears in Twilight of the Idols. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
The Problem of Socrates
1. Throughout history, Nietzsche argues, the wisest people—even Socrates—have claimed that life is “worthless.” But what’s the point of this? Pessimistic followers of Schopenhauer...
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2. Nietzsche considers Socrates and Plato to be symbols of a fallen ancient Greece. In particular, Nietzsche takes issue...
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3. Socrates came from a lower social class, and he was ugly, too. Anthropologists and criminologists state...
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4. It’s not just Socrates’s lustfulness that makes him decadent—it’s also his poor logic. Nietzsche strives to understand the origins...
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5. Socrates brought dialectics—a method of intellectual investigation that draws on dialogue and discussion—to Greek philosophy. Nietzsche...
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7. Nietzsche wonders whether Socrates used dialectics as an act of “revenge” against the aristocrats. Dialectics allow the dialectician to...
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8. Socrates fascinated his contemporaries. He created “a new kind of agon” and transformed the practice of...
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9. Socrates saw through the veneer of aristocratic Athens. He recognized that anarchy and rebellion were in...
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10. In order “to make a tyrant of reason,” as Socrates did, an opposing threat must also exist. Thus, Nietzsche suggests, Socrates convinced the Greeks that...
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11. Nietzsche explains the error of Socrates’s commitment to extreme rationality. He thinks that philosophers and moralists are fooling themselves if they...
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12. Had Socrates realized his self-deception? After all, he “handed himself the poison cup,” which Nietzsche takes as...
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