Nietzsche’s Procrustean Bed: A Critical Examination of the 'Wisest Sages' in 'The Problem of Socrates'
“Crito, I owe the sacrifice of a rooster to Asklepios; will you pay that debt and not neglect to do so?” 1. Introduction Nietzsche’s portrayal of Socrates and Plato in Twilight of the Idols significantly reduces their philosophical depth and multifaceted personalities to align with his critique of life-negating ideologies. In the section The Problem of Socrates , he identifies Socrates as a figure embodying decline, a “pseudo-Greek” whose approach, rooted in dialectics, reflects a hostility to life’s instincts. He extends this critique to Plato, portraying him as perpetuating this descent into rationalism and metaphysical abstraction. Nietzsche bolsters his argument with the concept of the “consensus sapientium,” claiming that the agreement among ancient sages about life’s negativity stems from their shared physiological malaise: That consensus sapientium—this I grasped better and better—demonstrates least of all that they were right about what they agreed on. Inste...