Kant, Nietzsche and the French Revolution

Abstract

The following essay comparеs Kant’s and Nietzsche’s views of the French revolution and enlightenment. The question of the role of the French revolution is examined from historical, moral and critical perspectives. The main complications in the course of Kant’s argument are caused by his understanding of the main goals and limitations of critique and not by the supposed contradiction between the scepticism concerning the right to revolt and the philosopher’s admiration of the results of the French revolution. Nietzsche significantly broadens the critical perspective but ignores the juridical aspect which was important for Kant – by negating the existence of natural and equal human rights.