FREE ESSAY ON SOCRATES, PLATO, AND CHRISTIANITY THROUGH THE EYES OF FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE

SOCRATES, PLATO, AND CHRISTIANITY THROUGH THE EYES OF FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE

Socrates has undoubtedly had a major impact upon western philosophy and society in
general. Plato, whose work is essentially an elaboration and expansion upon that of
Socrates, has had a similar effect. Naturally, these two philosophers have been subjects
of immense academic interest for over two thousand years. With this great interest comes
both praise and criticism. One of the most critical writers to attack these legendary
philosophers was Friedrich Nietzsche. Here I will examine Nietzsche's arguments, draw
evidence to support such arguments, and discuss his notion of Christianity as an
extension of such philosophy.
From Nietzsche's viewpoint, Socrates and Plato were to Greek society symptoms of societal
decay, or as Nietzsche usually puts it "decadence" (Nietzsche 39). In his attack on
Western Philosophy throughout Twilight of the Idols, he purports the main weakness of
Socrates to be evident in the delivery of his philosophy, or more specifically
dialectics. Socrates was never a rich man and belonged to the lowest of the socioeconomic
classes in Athens. Nietzsche claims that, "With dialectics the rabble gets on top", the
rabble in this case being Socrates (Nietzsche 41). Socrates repeatedly takes on the
government in various matters such as the weakness of democracy the connection of justice
and holiness. He uses dialectics with such techniques as elenchus to use complex
arguments to loosely back up his statements or to confuse his opponent into submission.
Before Socrates, the dialectical manner of argument was widely looked down upon. The
"good society" considered dialectics as bad manners. Parents warned their children
against such arguments purporting that such arguments were not to be trusted. Nietzsche's
rationale for this mistrust was that honest things should be able to stand alone as
honest without the implication of a complex argument. In Athens, where authority lay
primarily in commands as opposed to reason and discussion, the dialectician is not
usually taken seriously (Nietzsche 41). According to Nietzsche, dialectics are such
cowardly weapons that they should be used only as a last resort. He believes this
cowardice to lie in the way the opponent must prove he was an idiot rather than the
dialectician proving his wisdom (Nietzsche 42). Socrates used dialectics as a substitute
for true superiority over his stronger opponents, and thus made his way to the forefront
of Greek philosophy. 
Nietzsche asserts that Socrates' ideas, rather than working toward their intended purpose
of developing thought and bringing wisdom to a new level, instead worked against the
progress of society. This problem stems from Socrates' equation of reason with virtue
with happiness. By this, Socrates was merely trying to suppress his dark desires by
producing a so-called "permanent daylight of reason" (Nietzsche 44). He, as well as many
other philosophers of his time, believed that in attacking that which was commonly
thought to be this moral decadence, he could somehow elude such decadence himself. The
way in which he combats the decadence is simply another, disguised expression of
decadence. He seemed to bask in a sort of "rational daylight" in a "bright, circumspect,
life" (Nietzsche 44). He believed himself to be living without instinct and in opposition
therein. This rationalism at any cost was simply another sickness, and certainly not a
path, as it was intended to be, back to health and happiness. Socrates even seems to
realize this in retrospect towards the end of his life: "Socrates is no physician...Death
alone is the physician here...Socrates has been a long time sick" (Nietzsche 44).
Socrates may have finally realized that, as Nietzsche believes, "As long as life is
ascending, happiness and instinct are one" (Nietzsche 44). Socrates endeavors to escape
basic human instinct, as it could easily be labeled as the root of societal decay towards
a more barbaric society. However, Nietzsche believes that one must accept and embrace
this intrinsically influential element of the human psyche to be able to deal
realistically with the rest of one's self and one's peers before societal advancement can
occur (Nietzsche 49). For someone, such as Socrates, to acknowledge and hope for another
higher world (e.g. the afterlife) does nothing but brings about decadence in the
tangible, more important world by trying to escape it. Socrates declares in section 41c
of Plato's "Apology":
You too, gentleman of the jury must look forward to death with confidence, and fix your
minds on this one belief, which is certain: that nothing can harm a good man either in
life or after death.
This statement well illustrates Socrates' fatal error. His concentrated hope and belief
in another world has taken away from his interest in the present one: he becomes total
indifferent as to whether he lives and can in some way be of benefit to mankind or
whether he dies and can be at a state of intellectual peace without such benefit. What is
even worse is that he spreads this message to others and increases the overall
indifference in society towards the tangible world, thus leading to decadence. Socrates
was certainly corrupting the youth with such divine distraction and, as I am sure
Nietzsche would agree, was quite guilty of this charge brought against him.
The philosophy of Socrates led to the similar philosophy of Plato, and by the time of
Plato, Greek philosophy had deviated greatly from the ideas of the Hellenism, often
defined as an unrestricted type of pagan love of life, which Nietzsche unabashedly
embraced as the purest, Dionysian lifestyle, in contrast to Plato's moralistic way of
life. Similar to Socrates, Plato is frightened by reality and seems to flee into a state
of metaphysical idealism. His proposal of Platonic Forms is a way to express perfection
that is unattainable, but belongs to a higher world for which one must take great effort
and strive towards. The implication of this notion for Plato and his followers is that
which is referred to as a moral "good" is established as the supreme concept (Nietzsche
117). It is obvious that Christianity is well on its way to power. Nietzsche realizes
fully the growth of such a dogmatic, monotheistic religion as Christianity out of
idealistic Platonism:
In the great fatality of Christianity, Plato is that ambiguity and fascination called the
'ideal', which made is possible for the nobler natures of antiquity to misunderstand
themselves and to step on too the bridge which led to the 'Cross.' (Plato 117)
Although this suggestion seems to be a simple reiteration of Schopenhauer's concept of
Christianity as "Platonism for the masses", it brings up some other important proposals
as the basis for the popularity of Christianity. One of these is that the Church's power
has direct relation to the ambiguity of the afterlife. It is quite impossible to
determine the absolute existence of an afterlife, so one can only speculate. However, the
Church is fueled by this speculation, that in the case that an afterlife does exist, only
those who have spent their lives contemplating it and striving towards pleasing the
Supreme Being or beings to meet the requirements of entry will be enjoy its deliverance
from the pains of hell. Also, simple-minded people, such as the earlier, more barbaric
followers of the church, are easily excited by the supernatural notions of the unknown,
in this case an afterlife, and thus this fascination comes into play. 
To illustrate more clearly the connection between these ancient philosophers and the
largest religion in the modern world, we can examine how the two entities operate in
terms of society. Christianity, like Socrates and Plato, takes the side of everything
weak. It too idealizes the opposition of human instinct. More specifically, it attacks
those instincts, which serve as a preservation of strength in life. The most important of
these instincts is undoubtedly the intellect. The Church teaches that the supreme values
of the intellect are inherently sinful. They dismiss these values as misleading to the
Will of God and label them as "temptations". Furthermore, Nietzsche purports that life
itself is an instinct for growth, and that it leads to an accumulation of forces towards
power. Where this well-known "Will to Power" is lacking, there is decline in mankind. The
actions of the Church thus lead to decadence, as they discourage such an instinct for
growth in the tangible world, and thus a disguised form of nihilism is a powerful
component in Christianity. (Nietzsche 129)
This effect disestablishes the Will to Power and puts power into the hands of the weak,
who label themselves "the good". This is well illustrated in the first essay, "Good and
Evil," "Good and Bad", of Nietzsche's The Geneology of Morals, where he discusses a
"transvaluation of values". He first separates the act of deciding value into two
divisions: the aristocratic system of valuations and the priestly system of valuations.
The aristocratic system, spawning from a warrior class, appreciates a "strong physique,
exuberant health" and "conditions that guarantee its preservation: combat, adventure, the
chase, war games, etc." (Nietzsche GM 167). The priestly class, in contrast, has
impotence as their only weapon. As a result, they turn to hate. Their hate is the most
"violent, cerebral, and poisonous" of all hates (Nietzsche GM 167). In the case of the
priestly class being separate from the aristocratic class, and the former being lower in
power than the latter, comes the transvaluation of values, simply defined as the process
by which good becomes bad and bad becomes good (Nietzsche GM 167). 
Nietzsche views the two thousand-year "slave revolt" of the Jews as the most vivid
example of this reversal of values. The common Judeo-Christian proverb, "The meek shall
inherit the earth", and conversely that the noble and mighty ones will be damned, well
illustrates the common disposition of hateful vengeance in the Jews towards the
aristocracy (Nietzsche GM 167). Such mutual ideals and virtues spawned the growth of the
deepest and most sublime love (an essential precursor to the organization of a religion),
which had the same aims of hatred - power and victory over the stronger - but with a
subtler and more seemingly positive path (Nietzsche GM 168). This love culminated in the
form of Jesus, who brought blessing and victory to the weak and sinful. Jesus is,
however, a paradoxical blessing to the Jews. Looking at only the superficial aspects of
the situation, it seems that Jesus' death spawns the destruction of Israel. However, with
the opposition of Israel's enemies towards the killing of Jesus, these enemies are
tricked, so to speak, in to accepting Jesus as the crucified God who let himself die for
the benefit of mankind (Nietzsche GM 169). They thus side with Jesus, a poor Jew, and the
weak, priestly class has now defeated the strong, aristocratic class. 
Although not all of Nietzsche's arguments are not as strong and well supported, he draws
an astounding picture of how ancient Greek philosophy is so intricately related to
Christianity. The morals and values of the modern Church are largely the product of
ancient philosophy developing into moral revolutions. From Nietzsche, he learns of the
supposed evils that are hidden beneath the surface of such objects, which appear to be
quite innocent in nature. In summary, our examination of the criticism brought about
against Socrates gives us an altogether more objective view of his philosophy and seems
to put it into context. 
Bibliography
Works Cited
Nietzsche, Friedrich Wilhelm. The Birth of Tragedy and The Geneology of Morals.
Translated by Francis Golffing. Garden City, New York: Doubleday Anchor Books, 1956.
Nietzsche, Friedrich Wilhelm. Twilight of the Idols and The Anti-Christ. Translated by
R.J. Hollingdale. London: Penguin Books, 1968.
Plato. The Last Days of Socrates. Translated by Hugh Tredennick. London: Penguin Books,
1954.
Note: All Nietzsche citations refer to the second book, Twilight of the Idols and The
Anti-Christ, unless otherwise noted with a GM signifying The Geneology of Morals.