Author: Medha Bisht
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1000627535
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 298

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Book Description
This book examines in detail the strategic relevance of the Arthashastra. Attributed to the fourth century B.C., this classical treatise on state and statecraft rests at the intersection of political theory and international relations. Adopting a hermeneutic approach, the book discusses certain homologies related to concepts such as power, order, and morality. Underlining the conceptual value of the Arthashastra and classical texts such as Hitopdesha and Pancatantra, this volume highlights the non-western perspectives related to diplomacy and statecraft. It shows how a comparative analysis of these texts reveals a continuity rather than a change in the styles, tactics, and political strategies. The book also showcases the value these ancient texts can bring to the study of contemporary international relations and political theory. This volume will be of interest to students, scholars and teachers of political studies, Indian political thought, and philosophy, South Asian studies, political theory and international relations.

Author: Deepshikha Shahi
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3030017281
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 174

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Book Description
The ancient Indian text of Kautilya’s Arthaśāstra comes forth as a valuable non-Western resource for understanding contemporary International Relations (IR). However, Kautilya’s Arthaśāstra largely suffers from the problem of ‘presentism’, whereby present-day assumptions of the dominant theoretical models of Classical Realism and Neorealism are read back into it, thereby disrupting open reflections on Kautilya’s Arthaśāstra which could retrieve its ‘alternative assumptions’ and ‘unconventional traits’. This book attempts to enable Kautilya’s Arthaśāstra to break free from the problem of presentism – it does so by juxtaposing the elements of continuity and change that showed up at different junctures of the life-history of both ‘Kautilya’s Arthaśāstra’ and ‘Eurocentric IR’. The overall exploratory venture leads to a Kautilyan non-Western eclectic theory of IR – a theory which moderately assimilates miscellaneous research traditions of Eurocentric IR, and, in addition, delivers a few innovative features that could potentially uplift not only Indian IR, but also Global IR.

Author: Ashok S. Chousalkar
Publisher: SAGE Publications Pvt. Limited
ISBN: 9789352807680
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Revisiting the Political Thought of Ancient India: Pre-Kautilyan Arthashastra Tradition rediscovers the political ideas of the original and celebrated schools of thought in ancient India—early Arthashastra and Pre-Kautilyan traditions. This book throws light on hitherto not very well-known aspects of political ideas in ancient India, which flourished during the 5th and 4th centuries before Christ. Kautilya’s Arthashastra is a major text on ancient Indian political thought, wherein he cited views of a number of Arthashastra teachers who had written on political science. Unfortunately, their writings are not available today; only their views are found scattered in different texts. This book brings together these views to prepare a coherent account of their political ideas and reconstructs the pre-Kautilyan Arthashastra tradition with the help of available sources.

Author:
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 900428768X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 484

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Book Description
In The Radical Machiavelli: Politics, Philosophy and Language, some of the finest Machiavellian scholars explore the Florentine’s thought five hundred years after the composition of his masterpiece, The Prince. Their analysis, however, goes past The Prince, extending to Machiavelli’s entire corpus and shining new light on his political, historical, and military works, with a special focus on their heritage in modern Marxist thought, the arena in which they reverberate most profoundly and originally. Rather than a neutral, comprehensive, and safe interpretation, this book offers a partial and even partisan reading of Machiavelli, the 16th-century thinker who continues to divide scholars and interpreters, forcing them to confront their responsibility as contemporary thinkers in a global society where Machiavelli's ideas and the issues they address still matter. Contributors are: Etienne Balibar, Banu Bargu, Jérémie Barthas, Thomas Berns, Alison Brown, Filippo Del Lucchese, Romain Descendre, Jean-Louis Fournel, Fabio Frosini, Giorgio Inglese, Mikko Lahtinen, Jacques Lezra, John P. McCormick, Warren Montag, Vittorio Morfino, Mohamed Moulfi, Gabriele Pedullà, Tania Rispoli, Peter D. Thomas, Sebastian Torres, Miguel Vatter, Stefano Visentin, Yves Winter, and Jean-Claude Zancarini.

Author: Tom Trautmann
Publisher: Penguin UK
ISBN: 8184756119
Category : Literary Collections
Languages : en
Pages : 145

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Book Description
This book is a definitive introduction to the classic text, the Arthashastra, the world’s first manual on political economy. The 2000-year-old treatise is ascribed to Kautilya, the prime minister of King Chandragupta Maurya, and is as important to Indian thought as Machiavelli’s The Prince is to Europe. Arthashastra, or ‘the science of wealth’, is a study of economic enterprise, and advises the king-entrepreneur on how to create prosperity. Thomas Trautmann’s exploration of this seminal work illuminates its underlying economic philosophy and provides invaluable lessons for the modern age.

Author:
Publisher: Hackett Publishing
ISBN: 1603849025
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 258

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Book Description
The only extant treatise on statecraft from classical India, the Arthsastra is an invaluable resource for understanding ancient South Asian political thought; it also provides a comprehensive and unparalleled panoramic view of Indian society during the period between the Maurya (320-185 BCE) and Gupta (320-497 CE) empires. This volume offers modern English translations of key selections, organized thematically, from the Arthasastra. A general Introduction briefly traces the arc of ancient South Asian history, explains the classical Indian tradition of statecraft, and discusses the origins and importance of the Arthasastra. Thorough explanatory essays and notes set each excerpt in its intellectual, political, and cultural contexts.

Author: Kautilya
Publisher: Penguin UK
ISBN: 8184750110
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 832

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Book Description
An extraordinary detailed manual on statecraft and the science of living by one of classical India's greatest minds; Kautilya; also known as Chanakya and Vishnugupta; wrote the Arthashastra not later than 150 AD though the date has not been conclusively established. Legend has it that he was either a Brahmin from Kerala or from north India; however; it is certain that Kautilya was the man who destroyed the Nanda dynasty and installed Chandragupta Maurya as the King of Magadha. A master strategist who was well-versed in the Vedas and adept at creating intrigues and devising political stratagems; Kautilya's genius is reflected in his Arthashastra which is the most comprehensive treatise of statecraft of classical times. The text contains fifteen books which cover numerous topics viz.; the King; a complete code of law; foreign policy; secret and occult practices and so on. The Arthashastra is written mainly in prose but also incorporates 380 shlokas. Artha; literally wealth; is one of four supreme aims prescribed by Hindu tradition. However; it has a much wider significance and the material well-being of individuals is just a part of it. In accordance with this; Kautilya's Arthashastra maintains that the state or government of a country has a vital role to play in maintaining the material status of both the nation and its people. Therefore; a significant part of the Arthashastra has to do with the science of economics. When it deals with the science of politics; the Arthashastra describes in detail the art of government in its widest sense—the maintenance of law and order as also of an efficient administrative machinery.

Author: Shyam Saran
Publisher: Juggernaut Books
ISBN: 9386228408
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 336

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Book Description
Former India Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran has had a ringside view of the most critical events and shifts in Indian foreign policy in the new millennium. In this magisterial book, Saran discerns the threads that tie together his experiences as a diplomat

Author: Satish Y. Deodhar
Publisher: Penguin Random House India Private Limited
ISBN: 9357083774
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 156

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Book Description
A general perception exists that ancient Indian literature on economic matters is fatalistic and an admixture of sacred and secular thoughts. Economic Sutra provides a comprehensive perspective on the elements of Indian economic thought leading up to and after the Arthashastra. Economic Sutra is a perception-correction initiative to distil the Indian mind in the realm of economic thoughts and behaviour as brought out by the ancient Indian authors. It highlights the broader spread of economic ideas both prior to and sometime after Kautilya, giving insights into the purpose, actions and vision of our forefathers.

Author: Roger Boesche
Publisher: Lexington Books
ISBN: 9780739106075
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 146

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Book Description
This book provides an analysis of one of the ancient world's foremost political realists, Kautilya. Kautilya's treatise Arthashastra stands as one of the great political books of the ancient world, its ideas on the science of politics strikingly similar to those of Thucydides, Machiavelli, Hobbes, Clausewitz, and even Sun Tzu. The author's commentary on Kautilya's text draws out the essential realist arguments for modern political analysis and demonstrates the continued relevance of Kautilya's work to modern Indian strategic thinking and our understanding of the relationship between politics and economics. Striking a balance between textual analysis and secondary scholarship, this work contributes to the study of ancient Indian history, Eastern political thought, and international relations.