Sócrates e Nietzsche: razão e instinto

Abstract

The antagonism between reason and instinct is at the core of the criticism that the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche leveled against Socrates. Nietzsche saw in him the authority behind an innovative movement that was responsible for leading the Greeks from an artistic culture, where instincts prevailed, to a new culture based on rational principles. According to Nietzsche, Socrates founded a revolutionary form of reflection within Greek culture and among young Athenians, in which logical principles were the key to understanding reality, confirmed by his eloquent argumentative ability. The Socrates presented by Nietzsche is an ambivalent figure: a character capable of great achievements but, due to his excessively logical nature and declared opposition to instincts, a monstrosity per defectum, as stated in The Birth of Tragedy.