eprintid: 17144
rev_number: 17
eprint_status: archive
userid: 224
dir: disk0/00/01/71/44
datestamp: 2014-07-22 13:48:35
lastmod: 2014-08-15 09:49:31
status_changed: 2014-07-22 13:48:35
type: workingPaper
metadata_visibility: show
creators_name: Liebig, Michael
contributors_type: http://www.loc.gov/loc.terms/relators/EDT
contributors_name: Mitra, Subrata K.
title: Kauṭilya's Arthaśāstra: A Classic Text of Statecraft and an Untapped Political Science Resource
subjects: 320
divisions: 702000
keywords: Kauṭilya, Arthaśāstra, Indian political thought, saptāṅga theory, raison d'état, political realism
abstract: The Kauṭilīya Arthaśāstra – written at the turn of the 4th to the 3rd century BC – is a classical work of political theory and International Relation theory. However, Kauṭilya has so far remained on the sidelines of the international political science discourse in spite of Max Weber's repeated references to the Arthaśāstra and Hans J. Morgenthau's own statement that his theory of political realism is (also) based on ancient Indian philosophy. The Arthaśāstra is a theoretical and normative work which features six pivotal idea clusters: 1) state power, 2) raison d'état, 3) correlation of forces between competing states based on 4) the saptāṅga theory of the seven “state factors” (prakr̥ti). The correlation of forces predetermines which of six alternative foreign policy options – the 5) ṣāḍguṇya theory – will be selected. The background of Kauṭilya's 'realist' statecraft is 6) matsya-nyāya theory – a political anthropology which features anarchy, conflicts of interest and power struggle.
Kauṭilya's idea of political realism anticipates much of the modern notion which is associated not only with Machiavelli and Hobbes, but particularly with Hans J. Morgenthau and also with Max Weber, Helmuth Plessner and Friedrich Meinecke. The Kauṭilīya Arthaśāstra is an untapped conceptional resource for theory building with respect to political theory, theorized statecraft and IR theory. The Kauṭilīya Arthaśāstra is also key for understanding the politico-strategic culture of modern India.

date: 2014-07
publisher: Department of Political Science, South Asia Institute, Heidelberg University
id_scheme: DOI
id_number: 10.11588/heidok.00017144
portal_cluster_id: p-hdpaper
portal_order: 74
ppn_swb: 1658808428
own_urn: urn:nbn:de:bsz:16-heidok-171444
language: eng
bibsort: LIEBIGMICHKAUTILYASA201407
full_text_status: public
series: Heidelberg Papers in South Asian and Comparative Politics, ISSN: 1617-5069
volume: 74
place_of_pub: University Library of Heidelberg, http://hpsacp.uni-hd.de
pages: 21
citation:   Liebig, Michael  (2014) Kauṭilya's Arthaśāstra: A Classic Text of Statecraft and an Untapped Political Science Resource.  [Working paper]     
document_url: https://archiv.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/volltextserver/17144/2/Heidelberg%20Papers_74_Liebig_revised.pdf