Nietzsche's the Problem of Socrates

¶ … Socrates The basis of Nietzsche's arguments lies in the fact that he disagrees with the view that life is essentially worthless. According to the author, Socrates and other great ancient philosophers all come to the same conclusion after making a number of observations about life and how to live it; that it is worthless. The ultimate result is not only death, but also a wish for death resulting from the fact that there is nothing in life that can truly be said to mean something.

Nietzsche furthermore argues that the modern view is quite different from this: there is a sanctity and purpose to the lives we lead today. Therefore the high regard given to philosophers such as Socrates should be reconsidered. Nietzsche feels that this regard for the ancient philosophers is a symptom of the human herd mentality rather than clear and rational thought.

Great philosophers should not be honored because everyone else honors them; the deserving quality of their work should instead be considered carefully before making a decision to regard it highly or disregard it altogether. Nietzsche then chooses to disregard the philosophical premise that life is worthless and considers the value of Socrates in particular to validate his view. The first argument against Socrates is his physical looks. According to Nietzsche, Socrates was physically ugly, and this reflects that he had a character that was less than pristine.

While this may have been true of Socrates in particular, Nietzsche uses the argument as if it is applicable in all cases: an ugly face hides an ugly soul. According to our views today this is obviously not true. Those who have physical defects are often human beings with beautiful souls, while physically good-looking people are often depraved inside. One only needs to look at the average high school to realize this. Nietzsche's other arguments however appear to be based on less arbitrary values.

In addition to his physical defects, Socrates was also low in social status. Nietzsche calls him "rabble." So in addition to being repulsive physically, there was little to attract people to him in terms of status. On the other hand, however Socrates did attract large numbers of people to his philosophical views. His attraction lay in the fact that he used his dialectic as a cure for the socially unstable times during which he lived. People saw him as a kind of savior.

The rationality that the philosopher preached as a basis of happiness was seen as a last resort for self-preservation in a time when everything was being deconstructed. His equation of reason=virtue=happiness was then grasped frantically rather than considered carefully. It is this frantic acceptance of a philosophy that is no longer relevant against which Nietzsche argues. According to Socrates, submission to instinct is synonymous with moral decline.

Nietzsche however holds that it is this very submission that keeps life from degenerating into a meaningless collection of actions in the name of self preservation. This is proved by the fact that Socrates was unable to make himself happy through his own philosophy. For him life had become so meaningless that he committed suicide. Nietzsche does not blame life itself for.