Abstract

In this article, I wish to show that Kaufmann was right, when he claimed that “nobody has ever found a bettercharacterization of Nietzsche” than his own, when he talked about the “music-making Socrates” in the Birthof Tragedy. Firstly, I make some general remarks on the Birth of Tragedy. Secondly, I analyse Nietzsche’sunderstanding of music in the Birth of Tragedy. Thirdly, I describe the particular conception of “Socrates” asNietzsche develops it in The Birth of Tragedy. Lastly, I bring these two concepts together, showing that thereare various parts of Nietzsche’s mature philosophy which demonstrate a correspondence between thequalities of the “music making Socrates” and the qualities of the later Nietzsche. In this way, I establish thatthe later Nietzsche is very similar to the “music-making Socrates”, whom he mentioned in his Birth of Tragedy