The article provides an analysis of the zoological metaphor employed by Kant in Toward Perpetual Peace to characterize the appropriate conduct for politicians: that they be both "wise as serpents" and "guileless as doves". While this metaphor has given rise to extensive and systematic interpretations of the relation between morality and politics in Kant's thought, in this article the zoological reference is taken to express an archetypal reading of human conduct in political affairs, which could shed light on the problem that the metaphor attempts to illustrate.