While we were given multiple resources to draw from, Nietzsches’ “The Problem of Socrates“, which is a piece from his book titled Twilight of the Idols, is what I would like to focus on for this discussion. I find it surprising that I have not read any of his work prior to this. I have heard of him, but my level of intrigue had apparently not peaked enough to seek out his writing on my own. Color me surprised as I started reading and found myself laughing out loud while googling the phrase, “Was Socrates profoundly ugly?” The sentence that justified such an action, you inquire. “Socrates was a clown who succeeded in making men take him seriously: what then was the matter?” A clown!? Our beloved Socrates? What could inspire such a statement? And why am I so curious as to why Nietzsche thinks of him as a clown?
If you have not already, I would suggest reading his views. What I found interesting as it relates to our topic on the development of knowledge, was Nietzsche thoughts on Socrates’ notion that, Reason = Virtue = Happiness. He stated:
“The fanaticism with which the whole of Greek thought plunges into reason, betrays a critical condition of things: men were in danger; there were only two alternatives: either perish or else be absurdly rational. The moral bias of Greek philosophy from Plato onward, is the outcome of a pathological condition, as is also its appreciation of dialectics. Reason = Virtue = Happiness, simply means: we must imitate Socrates, and confront the dark passions permanently with the light of day—the light of reason. We must at all costs be clever, precise, clear: all yielding to the instincts, to the unconscious, leads downwards.”
If true, then it seems like much of the bedrock of Western thought was influenced by a man who waged war against all that makes us the flawed, temperamental, and beautiful creatures we are. “When a man finds it necessary, as Socrates did, to create a tyrant out of reason, there is no small danger that something else wishes to play the tyrant.” Was it all a power play for Socrates? Was his powerful intellect attempting to control, rather than enlighten? Were educational institutions founded on an ideal that reason will save our wicked souls? “To be obliged to fight the instincts—this is the formula of degeneration: as long as life is in the ascending line, happiness is the same as instinct.”
So, what do we do? In one ear, Father Socrates is whispering, “life is meant to be reasoned, calculated, and you should suppress your natural instincts. By doing so, you shall be made anew…” Meanwhile, Nietzsche is asserting that our foundational core is instinctual and that society, laws, customs, etc., have transposed our natural disposition. (So, we are basically animals thrice removed from our baser instincts? Is that what you are saying, Friedrich?).
So, how does this relate to “the construction and development of knowledge and what might be overlooked in major theories?” It doesn’t. Well, maybe a little. Suppose Nietzsche is right and that Socrates, Plato, and the foundation of Western philosophy, was based on obsessiveness with “being,” and the “fallibility of the senses,” and “reasoning our way to happiness,” and yada yada… And suppose Socrates did use dialectics as means against those who cast a condescending eye in his direction.
“Can it be that dialectics was only a form of revenge in Socrates?” Surely not! Right…? Didn’t he say that virtue was knowledge? And isn’t the Socratic Method one we use to eliminate hypotheses while seeking truth? Or that the interaction between teacher and student resembles that of a Platonic dialogue? Oh man, surely The Knowledge Developer and Grand Reasoner himself didn’t stoop to his baser instincts and found a millennium of education out of pettiness and reprisal? Right…? Surely, we didn’t overlook that while constructing our theories! No, we wouldn’t have. We are much too calculated and reasoned to…. Oh..