The Panacea of Knowledge 145The various proofs of immortality that Socrates cites in his last con-
versation with his students are of lesser consequence here. The very fact
that there are several "proofs" undermines the credibility of each indi-
vidual proof Socrates calls them a vessel we use to journey through life.
The mind undergoes a process of self-discovery that brings living
beings beyond the boundaries of isolation imposed by the body. It is not
necessary to extend this confidence of the mind to all of its manifesta-
tions. In other words, the truth lies in the act of self-discovery of the
thought process, not in the various, more or less illuminating arguments
we can contrive. It is for precisely this reason that individual "proofs" of
immortality are of only limited reliability, which is why Socrates did not
hesitate to fall back on myth. According to him, once you have engaged
your powers of reason, you can also "risk" believing in myth. He called
belief in myth, especially the myth of the transmigration of souls, a
"noble risk" and contended that 'Ve should use such accounts to inspire
ourselves with confidence" (Plato, Phaedo 114d). There is no fundamen-
tal contradiction between the self-discovery of thinking and reason, on
the one hand, and myth, on the other. The rational mind led him to the
deepest foundations of being, and he sought confirmation in myth.
Nietzsche called this Platonic Socrates a "mystagogue of science"
(1,99; BT§ 15) because of this link between the self-assured mind and
myth, which in combination ought to yield crucial insights into exis-
tence. For Nietzsche, the difference between Socratic and tragic knowl-
edge lay in the fact that Socrates was not aware of the point at which
knowledge "gazes into what defies clarification" (1,101; 15). The
Socratic universe of the mind is always brighdy illuminated; any obscu-
rities are considered temporary. Socratic optimism claims confidence
that someday even darkness will become bright This confidence stems
from the Socratic-Platonic intuition that the essence of the world is
good. The only possible cause of darkness and obscurity would be a
cognitive deficiency.
Cognition is not explicidy intent on an empirical and practical control
of the world in the Platonic Socrates. For Nietzsche, however, this