For Nietzsche, the dialectical method of Socrates is not a convincing form of argument. According to Nietzsche, Socratic rationalism was a response to the anarchy of instinct. Socratic rationalism was an attempt to gain mastery of the self, by opposing reason to instinct. Socratic philosophy, like Christian theology, is a morality of improvement . It is decadent, because it is opposed to instinct, even though instinct is an important part of the self.
Nietzschean ontology emphasizes transformation and the eternal recurrence of life.
Nietzsche agrees with Heraclitus that reality is a continual state of becoming, and is not a state of being. Reality is eternally changing, and is not a constant, immutable state of being. Reality consists of plurality and change, rather than duration and unity. Nietzsche disagrees with Heraclitus that our senses may falsify reality. According to Nietzsche, reason is what distorts our perceptions of the world, because reason can falsify the evidence of our senses.