{"product_id":"ruling-bodies-robin-varma-9781666907292","title":"Ruling Bodies: A Study of Coercion and Punishment in Plato's Republic, Laws, and Gorgias","description":"\u003cp\u003eThis 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Robin Varma\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1666907294\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781666907292\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Lexington Books\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 06\/28\/2022\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 172\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.94lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.56d","brand":"Robin Varma","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":44073983770879,"sku":"9781666907292","price":95.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_fd0c6bc8-11f1-4ab4-8a6a-de14d3508a15.jpg?v=1685451085","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/ruling-bodies-robin-varma-9781666907292","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}