Similarities Between Kant And Nietzsche

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In an effort to understand progress in humanity, philosophers Immanuel Kant, Karl Marx, and Friedrich Nietzsche each present their theories with Kant believing progress is made through the reform brought on by antagonism and social instability in humanity which will ultimately lead to perpetual peace, Marx arguing that a worker’s revolution and the adoption of true communism will lead to utopia, and Nietzsche deducing that progress will be found in the coming of a redeemer that will do away with the slave mentality. These German thinkers seek to define the guiding the force beneath humanity’s constant state of evolution to understand where it is headed and advise towards a goal they find ideal for humanity. Through an analysis of human characteristics, …show more content…

As described in the previous paragraph, Kant views antagonism to be a producer of progress, and continuing on from this canon of thought, all struggle created by mankind is seen as vital to progression. War is the epitome of this behavior as it drives men to extremes in their determination to conquer one another. Man will experience unimaginable horrors in their lust for war, but Kant finds it necessary that he do so because it is only through the condition of man worsening to its lowest point will he recognize his need for change. The pressure of impending annihilation will awaken man to answer to his true calling because nature does not will that he destroy himself. Nature’s highest purpose is to develop all capacities of mankind so that it may solve the solution to its greatest problem, which is creating a perfect civic constitution. A constitution in which, “There is mutual opposition among the members, together with the most exact definition of freedom and fixing of its limits so that it may be consistent with the freedom of others.” (“On Universal History”) It is this constitution that all of humanity strives for. It will bring peace to man, and society will achieve perfection by offering the perfect balance between freedom and the opposition humans hold for one