{"product_id":"ruling-bodies-a-study-of-coercion-and-punishment-in-platos-republic-laws-and-gorgias","title":"Ruling Bodies","description":"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.","brand":"Bloomsbury Publishing Plc","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49712265429336,"sku":"9781666907292","price":92.99,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0278\/1295\/4195\/files\/9781666907292.jpg?v=1769709635","url":"https:\/\/agendabookshop.com\/products\/ruling-bodies-a-study-of-coercion-and-punishment-in-platos-republic-laws-and-gorgias","provider":"Agenda Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}