NIETZSCHE V/S SOCRATES: A Love-Hate Relationship

This is a reading of an essay I wrote in 2021, originally posted on Medium, itself an adaptation of a contribution to the r/nietzsche wiki page. It was also the 6th episode of The Nietzsche Podcast. It has never before been uploaded to KZbin, and I decided to make it a video with visual elements. In retrospect, there are some rough edges to this episode, and some things I might have done differently. Nevertheless, I think it remains a solid effort in conveying the full nuances of how Nietzsche regarded Socrates. It was not hatred, nor unqualified admiration. Nietzsche criticized Socrates, and saw him as a sign of society’s decline, and yet he also sees himself in the image of Socrates.
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#nietzsche #philosophypodcast #thenietzschepodcast #history #philosophy #historyofphilosophy #socrates #greekmythology #greekphilosophy

[@MsJavaWolf]

My first Nietzsche book was Twilight of the Idols and I found it quite funny that the first thing he said about Socrates was that he was ugly. Thanks for the video, I'm learning a lot.

[@ptag6]

Nice job, I discovered your channel recently and have not stopped listening to past videos. So much great work! Thank you

[@zerotwo7319]

But, mother! I want to save hellenic society! We have a society at home! The society:

[@esbjornakesson3412]

I really appreciate your way of keeping close to the text while at the same time having a broad outlook.

[@Doctor.T.46]

That was amazing. As a fan of both Socrates and Nietzsche I found explanation both fascinating and illuminating. Thank you.

[@Ariba-Reads]

I appreciate your hard work, it mean alot to me my friend. Thanks for the content 😊❤

[@anthonyspencer766]

Your channel has quickly become one of my favorites in this area. I really appreciate the fact that you do not compromise in depth or sophistication with a view toward, should we say, "algo friendliness." Without asking you to deviate far from your passions in this field, I think you have not only the capacity intellectually but also creatively and productively to expand this channel into a much broader engagement with philosophy from ancient to contemporary. For example, I'd love it if you produced a series on the development and evolution of german idealism and how its vectors influenced geopolitical developments through the centuries. Obviously, these are massive topics. We are far from discussing a "4-part series". Instead, I'm suggesting possible avenues for you to broaden the channel moving forward. I guess what I'm after here is something like: you'd not get any complaints if your KZbin channel became an extended history of western philosophy. Your analyses are robust and substantive without being over-inflated or pretentious, sufficient to inspire without becoming stuffy. Tremendous work. Thank you.

[@untimelyreflections]

Thank you!

[@cheri238]

This was beautifully quoted, and the art focused was visually stunning. With gratitude for all you do, essentialists. 👏👏👏👏 🙏❤️🌎🌿🕊🎵🎶🎵

[@untimelyreflections]

Thank you! 🙏

[@user-lr2ib1cv4d]

William Durant said Nietzsche was most harsh upon those he owed the greatest debt(s).

[@philv2529]

Socrates was hated by Athenians because one of his students overthrew the government

[@chadefallstar]

Nice work!

[@malachihudson5747]

@essentialsalts it would be awesome if you made a video responding to Lou Salome’s biography of Nietzsche. I love your videos, keep up the good work ❤❤❤

[@N00bmind]

8:00 I have heard Michael Sugrue point out that Asclepios could be curing Socrates of the pain or fear of death rather than of life. Something to consider.

[@palawanjungledays3099]

Grazie mille

[@jamescareyyatesIII]

Excellent.

[@user-jr5vy2bg5q]

The first Socratic dialogue I've read on my own was the Gorgas and I grew frustrated about halfway at Socrates's stubbornness before I gave up reading the rest of it, but I reluctantly finished reading it. I still hold Socrates in higher esteem than Jesus throughout my entire life.

[@Satural_Nelection]

Greatly appreciate your elaborations! What is the name of the outro music?

[@untimelyreflections]

It’s a free apple loop 😂

[@readigo]

My two favorite thinkers

[@spongeyglue1845]

Just discovered your channel and have been binging. I'm curious if u have a formal education or are u just philosophical inclined?

[@untimelyreflections]

Self-taught. Like Descartes said, “I studied the book of the world.”

[@skrrskrr505]

I’m reading plato and Kant, then Schopenhauer then nietzche. Anything else anyone recommends anything to read in between for best understanding of nietzche?

[@untimelyreflections]

Check out: La Rochefoucauld’s Moral Maxims, Rousseau’s Discourse on Inequality, Emerson’s Essay on Self-Reliance, Heraclitus’ Fragments.

[@socialswine3656]

The Greek Tragedians if you haven't already!

[@Animalis_Mundana]

Have you done anything on Oswald Spengler? Seems like a great source for further content, especially his "decline of the west." He was quite inspired by Nietzsche.

[@majidbineshgar7156]

Socrates can be said to have been an " anti-Sophist" considering the fact that at his time professional Sophists were highly respected for their " American Lawyers' style of spin-doctoring" almost any statements whereas Socrates began to develop a rational dialectic mindset( rather than a dialectic system ) , and yet he also agreed with the sophists that one can only approach the truth by dialectic without being led to firm convictions , in that sense Nietzsche distinguishes himself from Socrates for Nietzsche seems to have been affected by his firm emotional convictions.

[@untimelyreflections]

Indeed! I did a video about the Apology that notes the similarities between Socrates and the Sophists, how he inverts their style of rhetoric into something designed *not* to persuade. Ironically, however, many Athenians would have seen Socrates as indistinguishable from a Sophist! Here is the video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/nae7d4qMZc-HaNEsi=IV6Jrs-b-0F4nMJr

[@engiidville]

Wow

[@benquinneyiii7941]

An old punished philosopher

[@davidscarafone5995]

I’m slowly becoming a sophist

[@untimelyreflections]

Aren’t we all

[@virtue_signal_]

Mon dieu.

[@widowsson8192]

One of, is not the best channel on Neitzche and philosophy.

[@outofoblivionproductions4015]

Nietzsche annoys me with his convoluted unclear writing. J.K. Chesterton said he wrote in metaphors because he didn't have the courage (or perhaps clarity) to say what is true. So, I only got 10 min into yr video. My impatient reading was that Nietzsche disliked Socrates for being the forefather of moral philosophy which preceded Christianity. Nietzsche hated Christianity which he considered weak and repressive. The Greek Moral Philosophy shared the Judaeo-Christian demand to discipline the passions by an ascetic life. The moral teachings of the Greeks were therefore compatible with Christianity. Nietzsche hated Christianity - yet he mimicked the gospels with his lonely solipsistic 'Thus Spake Zarathustra' - so he hated (to be simple) the Greek moral philosophers.

[@untimelyreflections]

If you can’t read Nietzsche without enjoying the writing, stick to GK Chesterton. He’s a fine writer in his own right. Your repeated use of the word “hate”, etc confirms for me that you indeed only watched 10 minutes of the video. Things aren’t so black and white.

[@user-jr5vy2bg5q]

People might have enjoyed Greek moral philosophy without Christianity's metaphysical baggage. Perhaps that oaf Chesterton couldn't comprehend such a perspective because he would be a fish out of water without his Christian metaphysics.