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Socrates
(428–347 B.C.E.) Plato was an ancient Greek philosopher. One of Nietzsche’s central goals in Twilight of the Idols is to challenge and dismantle the philosophers, moralists, and ideals that history has placed on a pedestal. Plato (and Socrates) bear the brunt of Nietzsche’s ire. In the section titled “‘Reason’ in Philosophy,” Nietzsche condemns ancient philosophers like Plato for teaching people to distrust their “senses” and view the physical world as an “illusion.” Nietzsche rejects Platonic philosophy because it separates the natural world from the ideal world—that is, it distinguishes between lived, sensory experiences and unattainable ideals. Nietzsche believes that this manner of thinking has taught humanity to devalue human instinct and, ultimately, life itself. Plato’s Theory of Forms argues that the physical world is less real than the world of ideas. In the section titled “How the ‘Real World’ at last Became a Myth,” Nietzsche summarizes how Platonic philosophy taught humanity to distrust their senses and ultimately reject “the real world.” Nietzsche thinks this is bad for society because when people no longer trust their instincts or believe in the world, they slip into decadence, nihilism, and ruin—which, according to Nietzsche, are precisely the ills that plague modernity.
Plato Quotes in Twilight of the Idols
The Twilight of the Idols quotes below are all either spoken by Plato or refer to Plato. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
“Reason” in Philosophy
Quotes
To talk about ‘another’ world than this is quite pointless, provided that an instinct for slandering, disparaging and accusing life is not strong within us: in the latter case we revenge ourselves on life by means of the phantasmagoria of ‘another’, a ‘better’ life.
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
How the “Real World” at last Became a Myth
Quotes
6. We have abolished the real world: what world is left? the apparent world perhaps? … But no! with the real world we have also abolished the apparent world!
What I Owe to the Ancients
Quotes
Ultimately my mistrust of Plato extends to the very bottom of him: I find him deviated so far from all the fundamental instincts of the Hellenes, so morally infected, so much an antecedent Christian—he already has the concept ‘good’ as the supreme concept—that I should prefer to describe the entire phenomenon ‘Plato’ by the harsh term ‘higher swindle’ or, if you prefer, ‘idealism’, than by any other.
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Plato Quotes in Twilight of the Idols
The Twilight of the Idols quotes below are all either spoken by Plato or refer to Plato. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
“Reason” in Philosophy
Quotes
To talk about ‘another’ world than this is quite pointless, provided that an instinct for slandering, disparaging and accusing life is not strong within us: in the latter case we revenge ourselves on life by means of the phantasmagoria of ‘another’, a ‘better’ life.
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
How the “Real World” at last Became a Myth
Quotes
6. We have abolished the real world: what world is left? the apparent world perhaps? … But no! with the real world we have also abolished the apparent world!
What I Owe to the Ancients
Quotes
Ultimately my mistrust of Plato extends to the very bottom of him: I find him deviated so far from all the fundamental instincts of the Hellenes, so morally infected, so much an antecedent Christian—he already has the concept ‘good’ as the supreme concept—that I should prefer to describe the entire phenomenon ‘Plato’ by the harsh term ‘higher swindle’ or, if you prefer, ‘idealism’, than by any other.
