Tag: Totalitarianism

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Books

Response to Frankfurt’s “Word of Principle”

– "Antwort auf das 'Prinzipielle Wort' der Frankfurter," Judische Rundschau, Vol. 28, No. 9 (30 Jan. 1923).  Reprinted in Gesammelte Schriften Band 2.  Reprinted in Leo Strauss: The Early Writings.
Excerpt: One should not let oneself be deceived by the political demands of Walter Moses.  What he calls “political” is political in the ancient sense of the word, rather than… More

Review of R. H. S. Crossman: Plato Today

– Review of Plato Today, by R. H. S. Crossman, Social Research, Vol. 8, No. 2 (May 1941).  Reprinted in What is Political Philosophy?
Excerpt: The intention of this book is described by the author in the following terms: “I am a democrat and a Socialist who sees Fascism rejected and democracy defended on quite… More

Review of John Dewey: German Philosophy and Politics

– Review of German Philosophy and Politics (Revised Edition), by John Dewey, Social Research, Vol. 10, No. 4 (November 1943).  Reprinted in What Is Political Philosophy.
Excerpt: In attacking German philosophy Dewey defends not simply the cause of democracy, and international order, but a particular interpretation of that cause–his own philosophical… More

On a New Interpretation of Plato’s Political Philosophy

– "On a New Interpretation of Plato's Political Philosophy," Social Research, Vol. 13, No. 3 (September 1946).
Excerpt: Professor Wild’s recent book on Plato is not simply a historical work. His presentation of Plato’s doctrine of man is animated by the zeal of a reformer and is meant… More

Review of Alfred Verdross-Rossberg: Grundlinien der antiken Rechts- und Staats-philosophie

– Review of Grundlinien der antiken Rechts- und Staats-philosophie, by Alfred Verdross-Rossberg, Social Research, Vol. 14, No. 1 (March 1947).  Reprinted in What is Political Philosophy?
Excerpt: It goes almost without saying that the picture drawn by Verdross of Greek political thought comes nearer the truth than the national- socialist version, which played such a great… More

Kurt Riezler, 1882-1955

– "Kurt Riezler, 1882-1955," Social Research, Vol. 23, No. 1 (Spring 1956).  Reprinted in What Is Political Philosophy?
Excerpt: In this work Riezler attempted to clarify the character that foreign politics had taken on during the long period of peace among the great European powers after 1871. He traced… More

Restatement on Xenophon’s Hiero

– "Restatement on Xenophon's Hiero," What Is Political Philosophy?  The Free Press, 1959.  Reprinted in On Tyranny.
Excerpt: A social science that cannot speak of tyranny with the same confidence with which medicine speaks, for example, of cancer, cannot understand social phenomena as what they are.  It… More

Replies to Schaar and Wolin

– "Replies to Schaar and Wolin," American Political Science Review, Vol 57, No. 1 (March 1963).
Excerpt: The critique of my Epilogue by Professors Schaar and Wolin is distinguished by the fact that it is, as far as I know, the most acrimonious critique hitherto written of what I stand… More

Perspectives on the Good Society

– "Perspectives on the Good Society," Criterion, Vol. 2, No. 3 (Summer 1963).  Reprinted in Liberalism Ancient and Modern.
Excerpt: Not a few people who have come to despair of the possibility of a decent secularist society, without having been induced by their despair to question secularism as such, escape… More

Preface to the English Translation of Spinoza’s Critique of Religion

– "Preface to the English Translation," Spinoza's Critique of Religion, trans. E. M. Sinclair, Schocken Books, 1965.  Reprinted in English translation of Spinoza's Critique of Religion and Liberalism Ancient and Modern.
Excerpt: It is safer to try to understand the low in the light of the high than the high in the light of the low. In doing the latter one necessarily distorts the high, whereas in doing the… More

Correspondence

– "Correspondence," Independent Journal of Philosophy, Vol. 5-6 (1988).  Correspondence with Karl Lowith on Nietzsche from 1935.

Why We Remain Jews

– "Why We Remain Jews: Can Jewish Faith and History Still Speak to Us?" Leo Strauss: Political Philosopher and Jewish Thinker, ed. Kenneth L. Deutsch and Walter Nicgorski, Rowman and Littlefield, 1994.
Excerpt: I take more serious cases; first, the anti-Judaism of late classical antiquity, when we (and incidentally also the Christians) were accused by the pagan Romans of standing… More

German Nihilism

– "German Nihilism," Interpretation, Vol. 29, No. 3 (Spring 1999).  Corrections to "German Nihilism," Interpretation, Vol. 30, No. 1 (Fall 2000).  Talk given on February 26, 1941 at the New School for Social Research.
Excerpt: What is nihilism? And how far can nihilism be said to be a specifically German phenomenon? I am not able to answer these questions; I can merely try to elaborate them a little. For… More

The Re-education of Axis Countries Concerning the Jews

– "The Re-education of Axis Countries Concerning the Jews," Review of Politics, Vol. 69, No. 4 (Fall 2007).  Talk given on November 7, 1943, at the New School for Social Research.
Excerpt: A nation may take another nation as its model: but no nation can presume to educate another nation which has a high tradition of its own. Such a presumption creates resentment, and… More

Restatement

– "Restatement," Interpretation, Vol. 36, No. 1 (Fall 2008).  Reprinted in On Tyranny: An Interpretation of Xenophon's Hiero, Including the Strauss-Kojeve Correspondence, Victor Gourevitch and Michael S. Roth, eds., University of Chicago Press, 1961, reprinted 1991, 2000.  
Excerpt: A social science that cannot speak of tyranny with the same confidence with which medicine speaks, for example, of cancer, cannot understand social phenomena as what they are.  It… More

Essays

Response to Frankfurt’s “Word of Principle”

– "Antwort auf das 'Prinzipielle Wort' der Frankfurter," Judische Rundschau, Vol. 28, No. 9 (30 Jan. 1923).  Reprinted in Gesammelte Schriften Band 2.  Reprinted in Leo Strauss: The Early Writings.
Excerpt: One should not let oneself be deceived by the political demands of Walter Moses.  What he calls “political” is political in the ancient sense of the word, rather than… More

Review of R. H. S. Crossman: Plato Today

– Review of Plato Today, by R. H. S. Crossman, Social Research, Vol. 8, No. 2 (May 1941).  Reprinted in What is Political Philosophy?
Excerpt: The intention of this book is described by the author in the following terms: “I am a democrat and a Socialist who sees Fascism rejected and democracy defended on quite… More

Review of John Dewey: German Philosophy and Politics

– Review of German Philosophy and Politics (Revised Edition), by John Dewey, Social Research, Vol. 10, No. 4 (November 1943).  Reprinted in What Is Political Philosophy.
Excerpt: In attacking German philosophy Dewey defends not simply the cause of democracy, and international order, but a particular interpretation of that cause–his own philosophical… More

On a New Interpretation of Plato’s Political Philosophy

– "On a New Interpretation of Plato's Political Philosophy," Social Research, Vol. 13, No. 3 (September 1946).
Excerpt: Professor Wild’s recent book on Plato is not simply a historical work. His presentation of Plato’s doctrine of man is animated by the zeal of a reformer and is meant… More

Review of Alfred Verdross-Rossberg: Grundlinien der antiken Rechts- und Staats-philosophie

– Review of Grundlinien der antiken Rechts- und Staats-philosophie, by Alfred Verdross-Rossberg, Social Research, Vol. 14, No. 1 (March 1947).  Reprinted in What is Political Philosophy?
Excerpt: It goes almost without saying that the picture drawn by Verdross of Greek political thought comes nearer the truth than the national- socialist version, which played such a great… More

Kurt Riezler, 1882-1955

– "Kurt Riezler, 1882-1955," Social Research, Vol. 23, No. 1 (Spring 1956).  Reprinted in What Is Political Philosophy?
Excerpt: In this work Riezler attempted to clarify the character that foreign politics had taken on during the long period of peace among the great European powers after 1871. He traced… More

Restatement on Xenophon’s Hiero

– "Restatement on Xenophon's Hiero," What Is Political Philosophy?  The Free Press, 1959.  Reprinted in On Tyranny.
Excerpt: A social science that cannot speak of tyranny with the same confidence with which medicine speaks, for example, of cancer, cannot understand social phenomena as what they are.  It… More

Replies to Schaar and Wolin

– "Replies to Schaar and Wolin," American Political Science Review, Vol 57, No. 1 (March 1963).
Excerpt: The critique of my Epilogue by Professors Schaar and Wolin is distinguished by the fact that it is, as far as I know, the most acrimonious critique hitherto written of what I stand… More

Perspectives on the Good Society

– "Perspectives on the Good Society," Criterion, Vol. 2, No. 3 (Summer 1963).  Reprinted in Liberalism Ancient and Modern.
Excerpt: Not a few people who have come to despair of the possibility of a decent secularist society, without having been induced by their despair to question secularism as such, escape… More

Preface to the English Translation of Spinoza’s Critique of Religion

– "Preface to the English Translation," Spinoza's Critique of Religion, trans. E. M. Sinclair, Schocken Books, 1965.  Reprinted in English translation of Spinoza's Critique of Religion and Liberalism Ancient and Modern.
Excerpt: It is safer to try to understand the low in the light of the high than the high in the light of the low. In doing the latter one necessarily distorts the high, whereas in doing the… More

Correspondence

– "Correspondence," Independent Journal of Philosophy, Vol. 5-6 (1988).  Correspondence with Karl Lowith on Nietzsche from 1935.

Why We Remain Jews

– "Why We Remain Jews: Can Jewish Faith and History Still Speak to Us?" Leo Strauss: Political Philosopher and Jewish Thinker, ed. Kenneth L. Deutsch and Walter Nicgorski, Rowman and Littlefield, 1994.
Excerpt: I take more serious cases; first, the anti-Judaism of late classical antiquity, when we (and incidentally also the Christians) were accused by the pagan Romans of standing… More

German Nihilism

– "German Nihilism," Interpretation, Vol. 29, No. 3 (Spring 1999).  Corrections to "German Nihilism," Interpretation, Vol. 30, No. 1 (Fall 2000).  Talk given on February 26, 1941 at the New School for Social Research.
Excerpt: What is nihilism? And how far can nihilism be said to be a specifically German phenomenon? I am not able to answer these questions; I can merely try to elaborate them a little. For… More

The Re-education of Axis Countries Concerning the Jews

– "The Re-education of Axis Countries Concerning the Jews," Review of Politics, Vol. 69, No. 4 (Fall 2007).  Talk given on November 7, 1943, at the New School for Social Research.
Excerpt: A nation may take another nation as its model: but no nation can presume to educate another nation which has a high tradition of its own. Such a presumption creates resentment, and… More

Restatement

– "Restatement," Interpretation, Vol. 36, No. 1 (Fall 2008).  Reprinted in On Tyranny: An Interpretation of Xenophon's Hiero, Including the Strauss-Kojeve Correspondence, Victor Gourevitch and Michael S. Roth, eds., University of Chicago Press, 1961, reprinted 1991, 2000.  
Excerpt: A social science that cannot speak of tyranny with the same confidence with which medicine speaks, for example, of cancer, cannot understand social phenomena as what they are.  It… More

Commentary

Response to Frankfurt’s “Word of Principle”

– "Antwort auf das 'Prinzipielle Wort' der Frankfurter," Judische Rundschau, Vol. 28, No. 9 (30 Jan. 1923).  Reprinted in Gesammelte Schriften Band 2.  Reprinted in Leo Strauss: The Early Writings.
Excerpt: One should not let oneself be deceived by the political demands of Walter Moses.  What he calls “political” is political in the ancient sense of the word, rather than… More

Review of R. H. S. Crossman: Plato Today

– Review of Plato Today, by R. H. S. Crossman, Social Research, Vol. 8, No. 2 (May 1941).  Reprinted in What is Political Philosophy?
Excerpt: The intention of this book is described by the author in the following terms: “I am a democrat and a Socialist who sees Fascism rejected and democracy defended on quite… More

Review of John Dewey: German Philosophy and Politics

– Review of German Philosophy and Politics (Revised Edition), by John Dewey, Social Research, Vol. 10, No. 4 (November 1943).  Reprinted in What Is Political Philosophy.
Excerpt: In attacking German philosophy Dewey defends not simply the cause of democracy, and international order, but a particular interpretation of that cause–his own philosophical… More

On a New Interpretation of Plato’s Political Philosophy

– "On a New Interpretation of Plato's Political Philosophy," Social Research, Vol. 13, No. 3 (September 1946).
Excerpt: Professor Wild’s recent book on Plato is not simply a historical work. His presentation of Plato’s doctrine of man is animated by the zeal of a reformer and is meant… More

Review of Alfred Verdross-Rossberg: Grundlinien der antiken Rechts- und Staats-philosophie

– Review of Grundlinien der antiken Rechts- und Staats-philosophie, by Alfred Verdross-Rossberg, Social Research, Vol. 14, No. 1 (March 1947).  Reprinted in What is Political Philosophy?
Excerpt: It goes almost without saying that the picture drawn by Verdross of Greek political thought comes nearer the truth than the national- socialist version, which played such a great… More

Kurt Riezler, 1882-1955

– "Kurt Riezler, 1882-1955," Social Research, Vol. 23, No. 1 (Spring 1956).  Reprinted in What Is Political Philosophy?
Excerpt: In this work Riezler attempted to clarify the character that foreign politics had taken on during the long period of peace among the great European powers after 1871. He traced… More

Restatement on Xenophon’s Hiero

– "Restatement on Xenophon's Hiero," What Is Political Philosophy?  The Free Press, 1959.  Reprinted in On Tyranny.
Excerpt: A social science that cannot speak of tyranny with the same confidence with which medicine speaks, for example, of cancer, cannot understand social phenomena as what they are.  It… More

Replies to Schaar and Wolin

– "Replies to Schaar and Wolin," American Political Science Review, Vol 57, No. 1 (March 1963).
Excerpt: The critique of my Epilogue by Professors Schaar and Wolin is distinguished by the fact that it is, as far as I know, the most acrimonious critique hitherto written of what I stand… More

Perspectives on the Good Society

– "Perspectives on the Good Society," Criterion, Vol. 2, No. 3 (Summer 1963).  Reprinted in Liberalism Ancient and Modern.
Excerpt: Not a few people who have come to despair of the possibility of a decent secularist society, without having been induced by their despair to question secularism as such, escape… More

Preface to the English Translation of Spinoza’s Critique of Religion

– "Preface to the English Translation," Spinoza's Critique of Religion, trans. E. M. Sinclair, Schocken Books, 1965.  Reprinted in English translation of Spinoza's Critique of Religion and Liberalism Ancient and Modern.
Excerpt: It is safer to try to understand the low in the light of the high than the high in the light of the low. In doing the latter one necessarily distorts the high, whereas in doing the… More

Correspondence

– "Correspondence," Independent Journal of Philosophy, Vol. 5-6 (1988).  Correspondence with Karl Lowith on Nietzsche from 1935.

Why We Remain Jews

– "Why We Remain Jews: Can Jewish Faith and History Still Speak to Us?" Leo Strauss: Political Philosopher and Jewish Thinker, ed. Kenneth L. Deutsch and Walter Nicgorski, Rowman and Littlefield, 1994.
Excerpt: I take more serious cases; first, the anti-Judaism of late classical antiquity, when we (and incidentally also the Christians) were accused by the pagan Romans of standing… More

German Nihilism

– "German Nihilism," Interpretation, Vol. 29, No. 3 (Spring 1999).  Corrections to "German Nihilism," Interpretation, Vol. 30, No. 1 (Fall 2000).  Talk given on February 26, 1941 at the New School for Social Research.
Excerpt: What is nihilism? And how far can nihilism be said to be a specifically German phenomenon? I am not able to answer these questions; I can merely try to elaborate them a little. For… More

The Re-education of Axis Countries Concerning the Jews

– "The Re-education of Axis Countries Concerning the Jews," Review of Politics, Vol. 69, No. 4 (Fall 2007).  Talk given on November 7, 1943, at the New School for Social Research.
Excerpt: A nation may take another nation as its model: but no nation can presume to educate another nation which has a high tradition of its own. Such a presumption creates resentment, and… More

Restatement

– "Restatement," Interpretation, Vol. 36, No. 1 (Fall 2008).  Reprinted in On Tyranny: An Interpretation of Xenophon's Hiero, Including the Strauss-Kojeve Correspondence, Victor Gourevitch and Michael S. Roth, eds., University of Chicago Press, 1961, reprinted 1991, 2000.  
Excerpt: A social science that cannot speak of tyranny with the same confidence with which medicine speaks, for example, of cancer, cannot understand social phenomena as what they are.  It… More

Multimedia

Response to Frankfurt’s “Word of Principle”

– "Antwort auf das 'Prinzipielle Wort' der Frankfurter," Judische Rundschau, Vol. 28, No. 9 (30 Jan. 1923).  Reprinted in Gesammelte Schriften Band 2.  Reprinted in Leo Strauss: The Early Writings.
Excerpt: One should not let oneself be deceived by the political demands of Walter Moses.  What he calls “political” is political in the ancient sense of the word, rather than… More

Review of R. H. S. Crossman: Plato Today

– Review of Plato Today, by R. H. S. Crossman, Social Research, Vol. 8, No. 2 (May 1941).  Reprinted in What is Political Philosophy?
Excerpt: The intention of this book is described by the author in the following terms: “I am a democrat and a Socialist who sees Fascism rejected and democracy defended on quite… More

Review of John Dewey: German Philosophy and Politics

– Review of German Philosophy and Politics (Revised Edition), by John Dewey, Social Research, Vol. 10, No. 4 (November 1943).  Reprinted in What Is Political Philosophy.
Excerpt: In attacking German philosophy Dewey defends not simply the cause of democracy, and international order, but a particular interpretation of that cause–his own philosophical… More

On a New Interpretation of Plato’s Political Philosophy

– "On a New Interpretation of Plato's Political Philosophy," Social Research, Vol. 13, No. 3 (September 1946).
Excerpt: Professor Wild’s recent book on Plato is not simply a historical work. His presentation of Plato’s doctrine of man is animated by the zeal of a reformer and is meant… More

Review of Alfred Verdross-Rossberg: Grundlinien der antiken Rechts- und Staats-philosophie

– Review of Grundlinien der antiken Rechts- und Staats-philosophie, by Alfred Verdross-Rossberg, Social Research, Vol. 14, No. 1 (March 1947).  Reprinted in What is Political Philosophy?
Excerpt: It goes almost without saying that the picture drawn by Verdross of Greek political thought comes nearer the truth than the national- socialist version, which played such a great… More

Kurt Riezler, 1882-1955

– "Kurt Riezler, 1882-1955," Social Research, Vol. 23, No. 1 (Spring 1956).  Reprinted in What Is Political Philosophy?
Excerpt: In this work Riezler attempted to clarify the character that foreign politics had taken on during the long period of peace among the great European powers after 1871. He traced… More

Restatement on Xenophon’s Hiero

– "Restatement on Xenophon's Hiero," What Is Political Philosophy?  The Free Press, 1959.  Reprinted in On Tyranny.
Excerpt: A social science that cannot speak of tyranny with the same confidence with which medicine speaks, for example, of cancer, cannot understand social phenomena as what they are.  It… More

Replies to Schaar and Wolin

– "Replies to Schaar and Wolin," American Political Science Review, Vol 57, No. 1 (March 1963).
Excerpt: The critique of my Epilogue by Professors Schaar and Wolin is distinguished by the fact that it is, as far as I know, the most acrimonious critique hitherto written of what I stand… More

Perspectives on the Good Society

– "Perspectives on the Good Society," Criterion, Vol. 2, No. 3 (Summer 1963).  Reprinted in Liberalism Ancient and Modern.
Excerpt: Not a few people who have come to despair of the possibility of a decent secularist society, without having been induced by their despair to question secularism as such, escape… More

Preface to the English Translation of Spinoza’s Critique of Religion

– "Preface to the English Translation," Spinoza's Critique of Religion, trans. E. M. Sinclair, Schocken Books, 1965.  Reprinted in English translation of Spinoza's Critique of Religion and Liberalism Ancient and Modern.
Excerpt: It is safer to try to understand the low in the light of the high than the high in the light of the low. In doing the latter one necessarily distorts the high, whereas in doing the… More

Correspondence

– "Correspondence," Independent Journal of Philosophy, Vol. 5-6 (1988).  Correspondence with Karl Lowith on Nietzsche from 1935.

Why We Remain Jews

– "Why We Remain Jews: Can Jewish Faith and History Still Speak to Us?" Leo Strauss: Political Philosopher and Jewish Thinker, ed. Kenneth L. Deutsch and Walter Nicgorski, Rowman and Littlefield, 1994.
Excerpt: I take more serious cases; first, the anti-Judaism of late classical antiquity, when we (and incidentally also the Christians) were accused by the pagan Romans of standing… More

German Nihilism

– "German Nihilism," Interpretation, Vol. 29, No. 3 (Spring 1999).  Corrections to "German Nihilism," Interpretation, Vol. 30, No. 1 (Fall 2000).  Talk given on February 26, 1941 at the New School for Social Research.
Excerpt: What is nihilism? And how far can nihilism be said to be a specifically German phenomenon? I am not able to answer these questions; I can merely try to elaborate them a little. For… More

The Re-education of Axis Countries Concerning the Jews

– "The Re-education of Axis Countries Concerning the Jews," Review of Politics, Vol. 69, No. 4 (Fall 2007).  Talk given on November 7, 1943, at the New School for Social Research.
Excerpt: A nation may take another nation as its model: but no nation can presume to educate another nation which has a high tradition of its own. Such a presumption creates resentment, and… More

Restatement

– "Restatement," Interpretation, Vol. 36, No. 1 (Fall 2008).  Reprinted in On Tyranny: An Interpretation of Xenophon's Hiero, Including the Strauss-Kojeve Correspondence, Victor Gourevitch and Michael S. Roth, eds., University of Chicago Press, 1961, reprinted 1991, 2000.  
Excerpt: A social science that cannot speak of tyranny with the same confidence with which medicine speaks, for example, of cancer, cannot understand social phenomena as what they are.  It… More

Teaching

Response to Frankfurt’s “Word of Principle”

– "Antwort auf das 'Prinzipielle Wort' der Frankfurter," Judische Rundschau, Vol. 28, No. 9 (30 Jan. 1923).  Reprinted in Gesammelte Schriften Band 2.  Reprinted in Leo Strauss: The Early Writings.
Excerpt: One should not let oneself be deceived by the political demands of Walter Moses.  What he calls “political” is political in the ancient sense of the word, rather than… More

Review of R. H. S. Crossman: Plato Today

– Review of Plato Today, by R. H. S. Crossman, Social Research, Vol. 8, No. 2 (May 1941).  Reprinted in What is Political Philosophy?
Excerpt: The intention of this book is described by the author in the following terms: “I am a democrat and a Socialist who sees Fascism rejected and democracy defended on quite… More

Review of John Dewey: German Philosophy and Politics

– Review of German Philosophy and Politics (Revised Edition), by John Dewey, Social Research, Vol. 10, No. 4 (November 1943).  Reprinted in What Is Political Philosophy.
Excerpt: In attacking German philosophy Dewey defends not simply the cause of democracy, and international order, but a particular interpretation of that cause–his own philosophical… More

On a New Interpretation of Plato’s Political Philosophy

– "On a New Interpretation of Plato's Political Philosophy," Social Research, Vol. 13, No. 3 (September 1946).
Excerpt: Professor Wild’s recent book on Plato is not simply a historical work. His presentation of Plato’s doctrine of man is animated by the zeal of a reformer and is meant… More

Review of Alfred Verdross-Rossberg: Grundlinien der antiken Rechts- und Staats-philosophie

– Review of Grundlinien der antiken Rechts- und Staats-philosophie, by Alfred Verdross-Rossberg, Social Research, Vol. 14, No. 1 (March 1947).  Reprinted in What is Political Philosophy?
Excerpt: It goes almost without saying that the picture drawn by Verdross of Greek political thought comes nearer the truth than the national- socialist version, which played such a great… More

Kurt Riezler, 1882-1955

– "Kurt Riezler, 1882-1955," Social Research, Vol. 23, No. 1 (Spring 1956).  Reprinted in What Is Political Philosophy?
Excerpt: In this work Riezler attempted to clarify the character that foreign politics had taken on during the long period of peace among the great European powers after 1871. He traced… More

Restatement on Xenophon’s Hiero

– "Restatement on Xenophon's Hiero," What Is Political Philosophy?  The Free Press, 1959.  Reprinted in On Tyranny.
Excerpt: A social science that cannot speak of tyranny with the same confidence with which medicine speaks, for example, of cancer, cannot understand social phenomena as what they are.  It… More

Replies to Schaar and Wolin

– "Replies to Schaar and Wolin," American Political Science Review, Vol 57, No. 1 (March 1963).
Excerpt: The critique of my Epilogue by Professors Schaar and Wolin is distinguished by the fact that it is, as far as I know, the most acrimonious critique hitherto written of what I stand… More

Perspectives on the Good Society

– "Perspectives on the Good Society," Criterion, Vol. 2, No. 3 (Summer 1963).  Reprinted in Liberalism Ancient and Modern.
Excerpt: Not a few people who have come to despair of the possibility of a decent secularist society, without having been induced by their despair to question secularism as such, escape… More

Preface to the English Translation of Spinoza’s Critique of Religion

– "Preface to the English Translation," Spinoza's Critique of Religion, trans. E. M. Sinclair, Schocken Books, 1965.  Reprinted in English translation of Spinoza's Critique of Religion and Liberalism Ancient and Modern.
Excerpt: It is safer to try to understand the low in the light of the high than the high in the light of the low. In doing the latter one necessarily distorts the high, whereas in doing the… More

Correspondence

– "Correspondence," Independent Journal of Philosophy, Vol. 5-6 (1988).  Correspondence with Karl Lowith on Nietzsche from 1935.

Why We Remain Jews

– "Why We Remain Jews: Can Jewish Faith and History Still Speak to Us?" Leo Strauss: Political Philosopher and Jewish Thinker, ed. Kenneth L. Deutsch and Walter Nicgorski, Rowman and Littlefield, 1994.
Excerpt: I take more serious cases; first, the anti-Judaism of late classical antiquity, when we (and incidentally also the Christians) were accused by the pagan Romans of standing… More

German Nihilism

– "German Nihilism," Interpretation, Vol. 29, No. 3 (Spring 1999).  Corrections to "German Nihilism," Interpretation, Vol. 30, No. 1 (Fall 2000).  Talk given on February 26, 1941 at the New School for Social Research.
Excerpt: What is nihilism? And how far can nihilism be said to be a specifically German phenomenon? I am not able to answer these questions; I can merely try to elaborate them a little. For… More

The Re-education of Axis Countries Concerning the Jews

– "The Re-education of Axis Countries Concerning the Jews," Review of Politics, Vol. 69, No. 4 (Fall 2007).  Talk given on November 7, 1943, at the New School for Social Research.
Excerpt: A nation may take another nation as its model: but no nation can presume to educate another nation which has a high tradition of its own. Such a presumption creates resentment, and… More

Restatement

– "Restatement," Interpretation, Vol. 36, No. 1 (Fall 2008).  Reprinted in On Tyranny: An Interpretation of Xenophon's Hiero, Including the Strauss-Kojeve Correspondence, Victor Gourevitch and Michael S. Roth, eds., University of Chicago Press, 1961, reprinted 1991, 2000.  
Excerpt: A social science that cannot speak of tyranny with the same confidence with which medicine speaks, for example, of cancer, cannot understand social phenomena as what they are.  It… More