Immanuel Kant addresses a question often asked in political theory: the relationship between practical political behavior and morality – how people behave in politics and how they should behave. Observers of political action recognize that political action is often a morally questionable affair. Yet many of us, whether or not we are heavily involved in political action, feel that political behavior could and should be better than this. In Appendix 1 of Perpetual Peace, Kant explains that there is no conflict between politics and morality, because politics is an application of morality. Objectively, he maintains that morality and politics are reconcilable. In this essay, I will address two potential problems with Kant's position on the compatibility of morality and politics: his denial of the moral importance of emotion and particular situations where an action seems both politically legitimate and yet almost immoral; whether through “politics”, considered as a set of principles of political prudence, and “morality”, as a system of laws which bind us unconditionally. In Perpetual Peace, Kant writes, “all politics must kneel before the law” (Kant, PP p. 125). He asserts that morality, in the sense of the doctrine of law, should demand more importance in political decisions, if not even be the predominant consideration. To emphasize the lack of distinction between morality and politics, Kant cites Matthew 10:16: “Be wise as serpents and harmless as doves” (Kant, PP p. 116). Wisdom is not sufficient if it is not directed toward a goal consistent with application toward morality. Kant considers the wisdom of the serpent to be used to improve morality. Not only must policy be consistent with morality, but also properly designed policy...... middle of paper ... sometimes these are the mechanisms that keep the political wheels moving. If politics were absolutely in the service of morality and honesty, this would seem not only unrealistic, but also undesirable. Faced with this problem, a challenge for Kant would be to defend the practicality and intuitiveness of the idea that “honesty is better than any policy.” Kant's assertion in Perpetual Peace provides an inspiring vision of a just, peaceful, and flourishing cosmopolitan world. It is true that morality and justice require truthfulness, civil obedience, and a full set of fundamental rights and freedoms; However, because human nature and emotion subsist beyond duty to moral law and there are circumstances that require lying, civil disobedience such as revolutions and temporary restriction of rights and freedoms, it there is a conflict between morality and politics..