「蘇格拉底問題」是糾纏尼采一生的尖銳問題，在《悲劇的誕生》中心位置，尼采對蘇格拉底展開了雙重批判：蘇格拉底作為「科學精神」和理性主義的化身，既謀殺了古希臘悲劇和藝術，又可能造成巨大的政治災難。蘇格拉底顯得是造就西方「科學」與「民主」的精神鼻祖。但尼采展現的蘇格拉底形象，並非柏拉圖筆下轉向政治哲學後成熟的蘇格拉底。成熟的蘇格拉底沒有完全摒棄藝術，而是恰切融合了詩與哲學。其「知識」涉及靈魂秩序、德性的多與一、最佳政制等最重要的人類事務，並具有目的論色彩，有別於尼采眼中的「科學」或「知識」。尼采對蘇格拉底進行臉譜化的政治攻擊，是為反諷性地引起知識人警醒其時代的政治和精神困境。他將藝術置於真理之上，並提出「大政治」的構想，實則像蘇格拉底那樣，都是在為人類價值和存在重新立法。

“The problem of Socrates” is a sharp problem which puzzles Nietzsche all his life. In the center of The Birth of Tragedy, Nietzsche launches twofold attacks on Socrates, claiming that being the incarnation of “scientific spirit” and rationalism, he has not only murdered Greek tragedy and art, but also brought about great political disaster. Socrates sounds to be the spiritual originator of western “science” and “democracy.” However, this image of Socrates differs from that in Plato who presents him as a mature philosopher after his turn to political philosophy. The mature Socrates has not casted art away, but merged poetry with philosophy in an appropriate way. And the knowledge claimed by Socrates is concerned with the most important human affairs, such as the order of the soul, the many and one of virtue, the best regime etc., and with a teleological color, different from what is called “science” or “knowledge” by Nietzsche. Indeed, Nietzsche’s political accusation against Socrates is ironically drawing intellectuals’ attention to the political and spiritual dilemma of their times. That he takes art superior over truth and proposes his construction of “great politics” is actually somewhat like Socrates to re-legislate for the value and existence of human beings.