Ruling Bodies centers around an epochal ontological shift in ideas that changed the nature and the 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 dives into the works of Plato to provide a framework and context for thinking about this. Through a detailed examination of the Republic, the Laws, and the Gorgias, Ruling Bodies offers us the first comprehensive account of coercion in Plato's thought. As the author shows, each...