Sharma Rajvir. Political Philosophy of Kautilya: The Arthashastra and After

SAGE Publications, 2022. — 474 p.Political Philosophy of Kautilya: The Arthashastra and After offers a critical analysis of ideas and institutions as described in the ancient political economy text Arthashastra. It discusses the contributions of pre-Kautilyan, Kautilyan and post-Kautilyan political thought to the evolution and development of political theory, in general, and the impact and influence of Kautilya’s contributions, in particular. The book examines Kautilya’s theory of state, power, law and justice, administration, security, society, and social well-being.This book examines the nature of the Kautilyan state and argues that it followed the principles of a ‘welfare state’, a concept coined much later. It talks about the relationship between moralism and realism in the treatment of international relations. It highlights Kautilyan's strategies in dealing with a hostile environment in the neighborhood and beyond, which will be particularly interesting to scholars of contemporary international relations.Rajvir Sharma taught at the University of Delhi for around 43 years. He was an advisor in social sciences at the Institute of Lifelong Learning, University of Delhi. He joined the Department of Journalism, Maharaja Agrasen Institute of Management Studies, New Delhi, as a professor and was a senior consultant at the Department of Public Administration, Indira Gandhi National Open University, New Delhi. He was awarded a senior fellowship by the Indian Council of Social Science Research, New Delhi, twice for completing two empirical research projects. Dr Sharma has been a visiting fellow at Loyola University Chicago and a professor at Mizoram University and the University of Rajasthan. He has also been a fellow at the Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla. Dr Sharma has contributed many research papers to peer-reviewed national and international journals and edited reference books published in India and abroad.