ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the differences in the two philosophies: Mohandas k. Gandhi's philosophy and Immanuel Kant's philosophy, as well as in the forms of social policy. According to Kant's universal principle of right, any action is right, or not contrary to justice, "if it can coexist with everyone's freedom in accordance with a universal law". But he further states that coercion that is opposed to any hindrance of such freedom is right, or not unjust, in that it is consistent with such freedom. The aim of coercive systems within a liberal democratic society is to limit harm to others in situations in which noncoercive means are not viable or cannot be found. Yet one of the crucial differences between nonviolence and liberalism might lie in the concept of desert. A votary of nonviolence, according to Gandhi "will always try to overcome evil by good, untruth by truth, himsa by ahimsa".
