Friedrich Nietzsche had profound insights into the psychology of hatred.

His assumption was that each human harbored hatred and contempt, whose directedness found plurality across the landscape of human values.

For Nietzsche, hatred arises not toward those we see as inferior but toward those we regard as equals or superiors, while those we see as inferior arouse not hatred in us but contempt and disgust.

As he writes in Beyond Good and Evil, “One does not hate as long as one still despises/underestimates, but [one hates] only those whom one esteems equal or higher.” (§173).

Hatred Versus Contempt

This distinction between hatred and contempt forms the core of Nietzsche’s famous contrast between ‘master’ and ‘slave’ moralities, which Nietzsche uses to designate psychological types stipulatively. These types exist on a continuum — an aspect of both animates all our psyches to varying magnitudes.

The noble soul of the ‘master morality’ reveres its equals and superiors while despising those it sees as inferior. As Nietzsche writes in On the Genealogy of Morals, “The ‘free’ man, the possessor of a protracted and unbreakable will, also possesses his measure of value: looking out upon others from himself, he honors, or he despises…” (II §2)

The ‘master’s’ disgust and contempt for the lowly and inferior leads him to call them “bad,” while he calls his revered equals and superiors “good.”

The ‘slave’ morality, by contrast, arises from resentment toward one’s superiors. Unable to act directly against those he fears and envies, the resentful ‘slave’ morality instead inverts these valuations, calling its feared superiors “evil” while idealizing the weak and lowly as “good.”

As Nietzsche writes, “While every noble morality develops from a triumphant affirmation of itself, ‘slave’ morality from the outset says No to what is ‘outside,’ what is ‘different,’ what is ‘not itself.’” (On the Genealogy of Morals I §10) Unable to overcome his superiors, the resentful ‘slave’ attempts to demonize them.

Critique of Societal Values and the Significance of Solitude

This distinction between contempt and hatred, between ‘master’ and ‘slave’ moralities, manifests in Nietzsche’s view on society.

Scornful of the values and passions of the “rabble,” Nietzsche calls on “higher types” to retreat into proud solitude rather than contend directly against the masses. As Zarathustra declares, “You shall have only enemies who are to be hated, but not enemies to be despised.” (Thus Spoke Zarathustra III §21)

The higher type engages with the mob not out of a resentful will to power but from a position of unconcern, recognizing their essential difference in values and strength. This theme recurs across Nietzsche’s mature works, as he calls for higher men to retreat to a philosophical solitude unconcerned with the temporary politics of the day, avoiding both pointless conflict and resentment toward their age. (e.g., The Gay Science §338)

In the preface to The Antichrist, Nietzsche emphasizes the hardness and strength needed to endure confrontation with harsh truths. He states one “must be honest in matters of the spirit to the point of hardness” and have become “indifferent” and “never ask if the truth is useful or if it may prove our undoing.”

This connects to Nietzsche’s project of questioning Christian morality and revaluating traditional values. Only the strong, courageous spirit can overcome comfortable illusions and grapple with an unflinching view of reality.

Additionally, in The Gay Science §338, Nietzsche advocates a sort of spiritual isolation and seclusion from contemporary affairs: “Live in ignorance about what seems most important to your age…let the clamor of today, the noise of wars and revolutions should be a mere murmur for you.”

Nietzsche prizes distance and solitude for higher types to develop independence of thought. The “skin of three centuries” protects the philosopher from being swept up in ephemeral news and politics.

Finally, in Thus Spoke Zarathustra IV ‘On the Rabble,’ Nietzsche uses vivid metaphor to critique how lesser people corrupt arenas better suited to higher men: “Life is a well of joy; but where the rabble drinks too, all wells are poisoned…They have poisoned the holy water with their lustfulness, and when they called their dirty dreams ‘pleasure,’ they poisoned the language too.”

The language of pollution and contamination underscores Nietzsche’s contempt for corrupt, familiar tastes overwhelming higher ideals and types. He harbors an aristocratic desire for guarded, separate spaces where refinement can flourish untainted.

By distinguishing contempt from hatred, Nietzsche uncovers the psychological underpinnings of morality, politics, and society.

Nietzsche’s insights reveal the centrality of emotions to human valuation and action. His call for solitude should not indicate misanthropy but philosophical clarity regarding the origin of values. The higher type can nurture their passion and creativity by avoiding useless conflict and simmering resentment.