AComparisonofKantianandNietzschean

ViewsonMorality

IntroductionToPhilosophy

NietzscheandKanthaveverydifferentviewsonmoralityandethicsin
philosophy.Kantspositiononmoralitycomesdowntoduty,withthecoreideathatany
actiondonefordutyismoral.Nietzscheontheotherhandseesmoralityasacomplex
ideathathasevolvedthroughouthumanhistory,thatwhatwasoncedeemedrighthas
throughslaverevoltbecomewrongandviceversa.InAGenealogyofMoralsNietzsche
actuallycommentsonsomeofKantsviews.Thepurposeofthispaperistocompare
andcontrastNietzscheandKantsviewofMorality.

Kantsviewonmoralityfocusesmainlyonhisconceptofduty.Kantreasons
thateachandeverypersonhaswillwithinthem,wherewillisthepowerofrational
choice.AccordingtoKant,whatapersonwillsismoralifitisbasedoutofrespectto
duty,asopposedtoselfserving.Withthislogic,anyactionismoralunderKants
reasoning,solongasthatactionwasperformedbecausetheperformeractedontheir
conceptofduty.Kantdidntagreewithanendjustifiedmorality,asaccordingtohim,no
onecancompletelypredictanoutcome,meaningthatifwetrytojustifyouractions
purelyontheoutcomeweexpecttooccur,atsometimethismoralitybreaksdown,as
noonecanalwaysknowthecompleteoutcomeoftheiractions.Inadditiontoacting
withregardtotheoutcomealone,Kantalsodisagreedwithactingoutofselfinterest.
ThecategoricalimperativeisthenameKantgivestoactingoutofselfinterestiscalled
thehypotheticalimperative.AccordingtoKant,evenifanactionhasagoodoutcome,
itiswrongifitwascommittedonlywiththoughttotheend,astheactionisonlyameans
toanend.Thereasoningbehindthisisthatsocietywouldsufferifpeoplehelpedeach
otheronlyforvariousincentives.
Inaccordancewiththis,Kantreasonedthecategoricalimperative.KantstatedActonly
accordingtothatmaximwherebyyoucanatthesametimewillthatisshouldbecomea
universallaw(30).Inshort,moralityaccordingtoKantfollowstheCategorical
imperative:actonlyoutofregardtoduty,legislateyourownmaxim,andactsothatyou
canwillthemaximofyouractiontobecomeuniversallaw.
Nietzscheholdsaverydifferentviewofmorality.InhisGenealogyofMorals,
NietzschecommentsonKantsideaofmoralityasfalse.NietzscheseesKantasa

nihilistbecauseKantputsthebasisofmorality(i.ethewill)outsideofmankind,which
Nietzscheseesasdevaluingtomankind.AccordingtoNietzsche,moralityisapurely
humanidea,i.emoralityisnotapriori.Thisconceptisdifferentfrommanyother
philosophers,whoseemoralityassomethingthatoutsideof(orbasedoutsideof)
mankind.InTheGenealogyofMorals,Nietzscheendeavorstoshowhowmoralityhas
evolvedthroughouthumanexistence.AccordingtoNietzsche,Moralityissplitintotwo
sections.Thesearemasterandslavemorality.Mastermoralityismoralitydefinedby
thestrongest,orrulingclassofpeople.Theseindividualsarethestrongest,smartest,
essentiallybestpeople.Peopleinthemastertierdonotfollowmoralityofthelower
slaveclassmorality.Becauseoftheiradvancementandplaceinsociety,themaster
tierdefinesmoralityaswhatevertheywish,andwhatevertheydo.Bycomparison,the
slavetierofmoralityradicallydifferent.Nietzscheviewsthecreationofidentityas
negative,assayingIamnot___.Theslaveclassisthereforethenegativeofthe
masterclass.Wherethemasterclass,isstrong,theyareweak.Wherethemasterclass
hassuperiorintellect,theyareaverageorlowerintelligence,etc.theyhavenoidentity
oftheirownbutareinsteadnotthemasterclass.
Slavemoralityfollowssuit,andslavemoralityisessentiallytheoppositeofthe
mastersmorality.Nietzschebelievedthattheslaveclassexperiencethefeelingof
resentment,causedbyprolongedfeelingsofhelplessnesstothemasterclass.Because
oftheirpowerlessnessandressentiment,theslavesunderstandablybegintolove
whateverisntmastertier,includingmorality.Examplesaresuchthingslikestrength,
independence,etc.Inslavemorality,insteadofstrengthmeekness,humility,etcetera

areprized.Insteadofindependance,obedienceisimportant.Slavemoralityalso
incorporatesanythinghelpfultoitself,inthiscasethingslikesympathyandkindness.As
thisgoeson,alloftheweakerindividualspropagatethisslavemorality,untilthevast
majorityofpeoplelooktoit.Thisoverturningofthemastermoralityintoslavemoralityis
aconceptNietzschedefinesastheslaverevolt.Intheslaverevoltofmorality,the
oppressedorslavesmoralitybasedonressentimentbecausethewidespreadmorality.
Mastermoralityisthenseenasmorallywrongintheeyesofthepublic.
AnotheraspectofmoralityNietzscheexploresisguilt.Nietzschesexplanationof
guiltisthatitisfueledandcreatedbysuffering.Whenmakingpromises,anindividual
needstoupholdtheirendofapromiseoranumberofbadthingsmightoccur,suchas
guilt.InAGenealogyofmorals,Nietzschestatesthatpunishmentleadstomemory.By
punishingsomeonesomehowwhentheyforgetapromise,youcreateguilt.Theywill
expectsomethingbadtohappenaftertheyforgetorbreakapromise.Inshort,
punishmentovertimecreatesmemoryandguilt,whichhelpstoinsurethatpeoplemake
sincerepromises,tellthetruth,etcetera.
InrelationtoKantandNietzschesconceptsofmorality,whilebothdifferwidely
fromeachother,thereareseveralmajordifferences.Onesuchdifferenceisthevery
baseofeachmorality.Kantbaseshismoralityofftheideaofdutyandthesearchfora
universaltruth1 .ForKant,dutyisanaprioriconcept,andassuchisoutsideof
mankind(apureideal,unchanging).Likemanyphilosophersbeforehim,Kantbases
moralityonsomethingoutsidemankindinordertoaffirmorestablishit.Nietzscheholds

Wood,AllenW.
KantianEthics
.NewYork:CambridgeUniversityPress,2008.18687.Web.
28Nov.2015.
1

thattheexactoppositeistrue.NietzschemostlikelyviewedKantsmoralbaseasa
formofnihilism.Byputtingthemeaning/baseofmoralityorindeedhumanlifeoutside
ofhumanity,Kantmakeshumanlifelessmeaningful(orinsomecasesmeaningless)
accordingtoNietzsche2 .Nietzschesbaseofmorality
affirms
lifesormoralitys
meaning.Byshowingmoralitytohaveahistory,insteadofsomeaprioriperfector
eternalconcept,Nietzscheisresistingwhathetermsnihilism.Inshort,withregardsto
thefoundationofmorality,NietzscheandKantdifferinthatKantsmoralityreliesonan
aprioriconceptwhereasNietzschesmoralitydoesnot.
Alongwiththeirbasesaprioriandpriori,adifferencebetweenKantand
Nietzschesmoralityishowtheyaccountforfuturechange.Beingapriori,Kants
moralityissetinstone.Kantscategoricalimperativeandactingonlyfromdutyarea
sortofcoverall.Inanysituation,pastpresentandfutureunderKantsmorality,the
moralactionisalwaystheonewhichcomesfromactingfromduty,andevaluatingthe
potentialactionwiththecategoricalimperative.Nietzschesmoralityisdifferentbecause
ithasthepotentialtoaccountforfuturechange.BecausemoralityunderNietzsche
evolvesalongwithmankindssocialdevelopment,andisnotapriori,itisableincertain
casestobeappliedtopresentorfutureevents.ExamplesofthisbyNietzschearethe
developmentofchristianmoralsinsociety.Nietzscheexplainsthisgradualchanging
ofgeneralmoralityasduetoaslaverevolt,theeffectsofwhichstillcarriedovertohis
time.Tosummarize,KantandNietzschesmoralitydiffersinrespecttohowithandles

classnotes

futurechange,withKantsmoralityremainingunchangingwhileNietzschesaccounts
forfuturemoralchange.
AsecondwayinwhichNietzscheandKantdifferonmoralityiswithregardsto
guilt.Kantstatesthatguiltandconscioushavetodowithduty.AccordingtoKant,
beforemakinganymajormoralchoice,wemustsubjectourselvestoourconscious,
whicheitherendorsesthechoice,orcondemnsforit.Guilt,bythisexplanationisthe
judgementthatwehavecommittedadeedthatviolatesmorallaw3 .Nietzschehasa
differentexplanationofguilt.ToNietzsche,inorderforpeopletoupholdpromises,
punishmentfornotupholdingtheirendoccurs4.Thispunishmentleadstoguilt,because
ifapromiseisbroken,theoffendingpartyexpectspunishment.WhileKantrelatesthe
originofguilttohisconceptofadutybasedmorality,Nietzscheclaimsthat
punishment(forvariousoffenses)leadstothecreationofmemory,whichmeansguilt,
aswhenmemoryfails(orapromiseisbroken,etc.)thepersonwhoforgetsorbreaksa
promisethenfeelsguilt.
AonesimilaritybetweenKantianandNietzscheanmoralityiswithrespectto
action.Kantofcoursestatesthattheonlymoralactionisthatwhichisdoneinregardto
duty,withtheapplicationofthecategoricalimperative.Nietzschestatedthatactions
weremoralifatfirsttheywerecommittedbythemasterclass(asanythingthemaster
classdidwasmoral).Later,aftertheeffectsoftheslaverevolt,amoralactioncameto
meananythingthatfollowedtheslaverevoltmorality.Asceticism(selfdenial)canbe

Wood,AllenW.
KantianEthics
.NewYork:CambridgeUniversityPress,2008.18687.Web.
28Nov.2015.
3

Nietzsche,FriedrichW,WalterA.Kaufmann,RJ.Hollingdale,andFriedrichW.Nietzsche.
On
theGenealogyofMorals
.NewYork:VintageBooks
4

consideredmoraltoanextentunderbothmoralities.Kanttoanextentendorsedamoral
asceticismforthecultivationofvirtue5 ,andinsomecasesasceticisminKantian
moralitymustbeimportant,fortofollowdutyaloneitmightattimesbenecessaryto
subvertpartsofyourself.Nietzscheanmoralitytoinsomecasescanholdasceticismas
moral,astheslaverevoltinmoralityheldasceticismasmoral.Thisisnamelybecause
theslavesgainpleasurefromexertingcontrolononeoftheonlythingstheycan,their
ownwill.ThoughNietzschedescribesasceticismasanunhealthydistortionofanimal
natureunderslavemoralityitcouldbeseenasmoral.Inshort,akeysimilaritybetween
KantianandNietzscheanmoralityisthatwhileitdifferswidelyinmanycases,each
moralitycanagreethatcertainactionsareeithermoral(insomecases)orimmoral.
Inconclusion,KantianandNietzscheanmoralitiesarequitedifferent.Threekey
differencesarethebaseofeachmorality,howtheyaccountforfuturechange,andguilt.
Withregardstothebaseofeachmorality,Kantbaseshisoffofaprioriideals,whereas
Nietzscheseesmoralityasaevolving,human,andprioriconcept.Consideringchange,
becauseofitsapriorinature,Kantsmoralityremainsthesamethroughouttime,while
Nietzscheschangesbasedonslaverevolt.Withguilt,Kantstatesthatguiltiscaused
bytheconsciousdecidinganactionisimmoral,whileguilttoNietzscheisamechanism
toupholdmemoryandpromises.Whilebothmoralitiesaredifferent,theyeachcanfind
certainactionstobemoralorimmoral.ThishasbeenacomparisonbetweenKantian
andNietzscheanmorality.

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KantianEthics
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ClassnotesfromDr.AlexandraMorrison