73 Nietzsche is not so much referring to the specific arguments of Plato and Socrates, which we
looked at in the previous chapter (though they may have played their part); instead, he means the
Socratic method in general, with its heavy emphasis on a particular kind of rationality.
74 BT 8, p. 42.
75 Like his infatuation with Schopenhauer, Nietzsche’s infatuation with Wagner weakened as he got
older and he became highly critical of Wagner. But both Wagner and Schopenhauer remained
significant influences on his thinking.74 From the World to the Stage