7 Reasons Why Nietzsche Hated Kant

Kant was a nerd.

A real stiff. The kind of guy who scheduled his daily walk so precisely that people could set their clocks by it.

He wrote about morality as if it were a math problem, all formulas and rigid principles.

Nietzsche? He saw right through that. He smelled the rot. And he hated it.

I’m not saying Nietzsche was a saint. He wasn’t.

The guy had a mustache so big it could house a family of pigeons, and he spent most of his life sick, alone, and ranting.

But when he took aim at Immanuel Kant, he didn’t miss.

Seven reasons why Nietzsche loathed Kant? Let’s take this apart.

1. Kant Worshiped Reason. Nietzsche Worshiped Life.

Kant thought reason was king. He built a moral system—his “Categorical Imperative”—based on pure logic.

It was universal, absolute, unbreakable. It smelled like a college ethics class.

Nietzsche, on the other hand, believed reason was just one tool among many.

What about instinct? What about passion?

He saw people as animals, driven by forces they barely understood.

Trying to squeeze human nature into a tight little box of rationality?

That was Kant’s mistake.

2. Kant Loved Morality. Nietzsche Knew It Was a Lie.

For Kant, morality was like math: clear, objective, one-size-fits-all.

If it was wrong to lie, then it was always wrong to lie. Period.

Nietzsche laughed. Who decided that?

Who made these rules?

Kant talked about duty, but Nietzsche smelled something worse—weakness.

A morality designed to chain people down, to tame them. And worst of all? People swallowed it whole.

3. Kant Believed in Free Will. Nietzsche Saw the Puppet Strings.

Kant said we were free because we could choose to follow moral law.

Nietzsche wasn’t buying it. He saw the machinery behind people’s actions—instincts, upbringing, biology.

Free will? Just another comforting illusion.

If anything, Nietzsche thought real freedom came from breaking the chains of morality, not following them. But most people weren’t brave enough.

4. Kant Had Faith in Truth. Nietzsche Thought It Was a Joke.

For Kant, truth was out there, like a shining mountain waiting to be climbed. Nietzsche thought that was cute.

Truth wasn’t something pure and absolute.

It was a weapon. It was something people invented and fought over. If you looked hard enough, you’d see that every “truth” was just someone’s will to power wearing a mask.

5. Kant’s “Ding-an-Sich” vs. Nietzsche’s “Will to Power”

Kant had this idea: the “thing-in-itself.”

The real world was out there, but we could never truly know it. We were trapped behind our perceptions, cut off from reality.

Nietzsche wasn’t having it. Why the hell would you waste your time on some mysterious “unknowable” world?

The world that mattered was the one you could grab, shape, and conquer.

Life wasn’t about understanding—it was about dominating.

6. Kant’s Universality vs. Nietzsche’s Individuality

Kant loved the idea of universal laws. Something that applied to everyone, everywhere, always.

Nietzsche saw that as herd mentality. Life was about the strong carving their own path, not following some cosmic rulebook.

He celebrated the “Übermensch”—the one who made his own values, not the Kantian robot following universal morality like a programmed machine.

7. Kant Wanted Stability. Nietzsche Wanted Revolution.

Kant’s whole project was about creating order. A moral system that stood strong, no matter the chaos of the world.

Nietzsche? He wanted to set fire to the whole thing. He thought traditional morality was built on fear and decay.

It kept people tame, small. He wanted something new—something beyond good and evil.

Table Summary

Kant	Nietzsche
Morality is universal	Morality is a human invention
Reason rules everything	Instincts and power drive us
Free will exists	People are ruled by unseen forces
Truth is absolute	Truth is a weapon
The world is unknowable (“Ding-an-Sich”)	The world is yours to shape (“Will to Power”)
Universal rules apply to all	The strong create their own rules
Stability is good	Destruction is necessary

So Who Was Right?

Depends on how much you like being lied to.

Kant would have had you believe that morality is eternal, that reason can guide you, that truth is out there like a bright, shining beacon.

But look around. Do you see that? Or do you see people fighting, lying, scheming—using morality like a leash?

Nietzsche didn’t just hate Kant. He wanted to bury him.

And maybe he did. Kant’s ideas still float around, dressed up in academic robes, but they don’t have the same bite.

Nietzsche? He’s still out there, whispering in the ears of anyone who’s ever questioned the rules, anyone who’s ever wanted to break free.

And if you just felt a little uncomfortable, a little excited reading that—congratulations. Nietzsche got to you too.