4-2B. Aristocratic Regime and Dissolution as Precondition of Philosophy; Origin of the Type of the Philosopher and Tyrant

the “raw material” for philosophy is furnished by the aristocratic regime in a much more direct and literal way, in that only the impressive specimens bred over generations by such a regime can become philosophers in the beginnings of philosophy, or receive philosophy at its beginnings. This point is made in a somewhat limited way, but for our purposes, most clearly, when Nietzsche discusses the incredible work that had to go into cultivating physical beauty in Athens--itself originally just the consequence of a physical culture geared toward athletics and thus at bottom toward warfare. The physical beauty that impressed thinkers and philosophers, and that in particular was the fertile ground and inspiration for Platonic philosophy, was one of the end-products of the breeding program inherent in the aristocratic regime.