My project is a comparative study of Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) and Theodor W. Adorno (1903-1969) as critics of enlightenment. Both thinkers held ambivalent views of enlightenment its lasting legacy, focusing particularly on the principle of rational thought. Whilst Nietzsche and Adorno acknowledged enlightenment's strengths, they were just as keen to highlight what they considered to be the negative impact of reason on wider culture, which they believed to be reflected in the artistic and intellectual developments of their times. By viewing Nietzsche and Adorno in this way, I aim to show that a critique of enlightenment underpins their aesthetic, intellectual, and moral critiques of culture and society.