Imagine Peace – Criticize War: Karl Kraus Reads Immanuel Kant

Six months before the end of World War I, Karl Kraus published in his satirical journal, Die Fackel (The Torch) a poem titled “Perpetual Peace.”  Kraus, a staunch critic of modernity, was no Kantian. In his writings, he often expressed reservations about liberalism and a naïve trust in Enlightenment ideals. Why did Kraus turn to Kant and used the “Perpetual Peace” for his critique of the war, which manifested the bankruptcy of German idealism? This article aims to address this question by focusing on the satirical dimension of Kant’s “Perpetual Peace.” Beyond its rational and legal framework, Kant’s essay is rich with literary and satirical allusions. It aims to transcend contractual order and rely on natural teleology rather than federal legal order. The essay’s literary citations and its unusual reliance on nature reflect Kant’s grappling with truth in politics and political imagination, a challenge that Kraus acutely identifies and emphasizes. By examining this intriguing convergence of Kant and Kraus (despite their differing approaches), I seek to outline a shared critical-moral project. This project extends the deontological morality and the discourse of rights, aiming to establish an anti-war moral imperative that holds both socio-historical and timeless validity.