Robin Varma

Ruling Bodies (eBook, PDF)

A Study of Coercion and Punishment in Plato's Republic, Laws, and Gorgias

• Format: PDF

Produktbeschreibung

This book is about an epochal shift in ideas that changed the nature and meaning of coercion in modern political thought. It begins with a review of Foucault, Arendt, and Habermas, and points out a discrepancy in the way each thinker understood coercion in modern politics. From here, Varma examines Plato's Republic, Laws, and Gorgias to provide a framework and context for thinking about this. As the author shows, each work demonstrates a particular style of Platonic statecraft that corresponds to the amount of power the philosopher holds in a city. The Republic demonstrates the philosopher's rule as a monarch; the Laws demonstrates his rule when he must share power with a few spirited statesmen; and the Gorgias demonstrates his rule in a democracy where power belongs to the people. Ultimately, Varma argues that the philosopher used coercion as a supplementary tool to help harmonize man's soul with the heavens. When Hobbes recast the cosmos as matter in motion, however, power became the highest ordering principle for political life.

Produktdetails

• Verlag: Bloomsbury eBooks US
• Seitenzahl: 1
• Erscheinungstermin: 23. Mai 2022
• Englisch
• ISBN-13: 9781978772885
• Artikelnr.: 74398432

Autorenporträt

Robin Varma is communications officer at Health Canada. He received his Ph.D. in political science from Carleton University.

Inhaltsangabe

Introduction: Why We Should Inquire
Chapter 1: The Republic
Chapter 2: The Laws
Chapter 3: The Gorgias
Conclusion: Coercion in the Statecraft of Hobbes