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The Problem of Knowledge in the Philosophical Doctrine of Friedrich Heinrich Jacobi

– The Problem of Knowledge in the Philosophical Doctrine of Friedrich Heinrich Jacobi, Doctoral Dissertation, University of Hamburg, 1921. Reprinted in Gesammelte Schriften, Band 2, Philosophie und Gesetz -- Frühe Schriften, Heinrich Meier, ed., Metzler Verlag, 1997. Abstract reprinted in: Leo Strauss: The Early Writings (1921-1932), Michael Zank, ed., State University of New York Press, 2002.
Excerpt: Jacobi distinguishes two types of general attitudes of mind, the essential predicates of which are juxtaposed as “courageously believing” [mutig-glaubend] and… More

Spinoza’s Critique of Religion

– Spinoza's Critique of Religion, trans. E. M. Sinclair, University of Chicago Press, 1997. Originally published as Die Religionskritik Spinozas als Grundlage seiner Bibelwissenschaft Untersuchungen zu Spinozas Theologisch-Politischem Traktat, Akademie-Verlag, 1930.
Excerpt from the preface to the English translation: Considerations like those sketched in the preceding paragraphs made one wonder whether an unqualified return to Jewish orthodoxy was not… More

Philosophy and Law

– Philosophy and Law: Contributions to the Understanding of Maimonides and His Predecessors, trans. Eve Adler, State University of New York Press, 1995. Originally published as Philosophie und Gesetz: Beiträge zum Verständnis Maimunis und Seiner Vorlaüfer, Schocken Verlag, 1935.
Excerpt: The latecomers, who saw that the attacks of Hobbes, Spinoza, Bayle, Voltaire, and Reimarus could not be parried by defensive measures such as Moses Mendelssohn’s, agreed,… More

The Political Philosophy of Hobbes

– The Political Philosophy of Hobbes: Its Basis and Its Genesis, trans. Elsa M. Sinclair, University of Chicago Press, 1952. Originally published as The Political Philosophy of Hobbes: Its Basis and Its Genesis, Oxford, at the Clarendon Press, 1936.
Excerpt: Hobbes’s political philosophy is the first peculiarly modern attempt to give a coherent and exhaustive answer to the question of man’s right life, which is at the same… More

On Tyranny

– 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. Originally Published as On Tyranny: An Interpretation of Xenophon's Hiero, Political Science Classics, 1948.
Excerpt: While Xenophon seems to have believed that beneficent tyranny or the rule of a tyrant who listens to the counsels of the wise is, as a matter of principle, preferable to the rule… More

Persecution and the Art of Writing

– Persecution and the Art of Writing, The Free Press, 1952.  Reprinted: University of Chicago Press, 1988.
Excerpt: Plato substituted for it a more conservative way of action, namely, the gradual replacement of the accepted opinions by the truth or an approximation to the truth. The replacement… More

Natural Right and History

– Natural Right and History, University of Chicago Press, 1953.  Reprinted: University of Chicago Press, 1965.
Excerpt: It would seem, then, that the rejection of natural right is bound to lead to disastrous consequences. And it is obvious that consequences which are regarded as disastrous by many… More

Thoughts on Machiavelli

– Thoughts on Machiavelli, The Free Press, 1958.  Reprint: University of Chicago Press, 1978.
Excerpt: We shall not shock anyone, we shall merely expose ourselves to good-natured or at any rate harmless ridicule, if we profess ourselves inclined to the old-fashioned and simple… More

What Is Political Philosophy?

– What Is Political Philosophy? And Other Studies, The Free Press, 1959.  Reprint: University of Chicago Press, 1988.
Excerpt: The meaning off political philosophy and its meaningful character are as evident today as they have been since the time when political philosophy first made its appearance in… More

History of Political Philosophy

– History of Political Philosophy, ed. Leo Strauss and Joseph Cropsey, Rand McNally, 1963.  Second Edition: Rand McNally, 1972.  Third Edition, University of Chicago Press, 1987.
The third edition of Leo Strauss and Joseph Cropsey’s History of Political Philosophy is the definitive introduction for students interested in the great thinkers of political… More

The City and Man

– The City and Man, Rand McNally, 1964.  Reprint: University of Chicago Press, 1978.
Excerpt: It is not self-forgetting and pain-loving antiquarianism nor self-forgetting and intoxicating romanticism which induces us to turn with passionate interest, with unqualified… More

Socrates and Aristophanes

– Socrates and Aristophanes, Basic Books, 1966.  Reprint: University of Chicago Press, 1980.
Excerpt: Since Socrates did not write books or speeches, we depend entirely on other men’s reports for our knowledge of the circumstances in which, or of the reasons for which,… More

Liberalism Ancient and Modern

– Liberalism Ancient and Modern, Basic Books, 1968.  Reprint: University of Chicago Press, 1995.
Excerpt: Liberal education is education in culture or toward culture.  The finished product of a liberal education is a cultured human being.  “Culture” (cultura) means… More

Xenophon’s Socratic Discourse

– Xenophon's Socratic Discourse: An Interpretation of the Oeconomicus, Cornell University Press, 1970.  Reprint: St. Augustine's Press, 1998.
Excerpt: The Great Tradition of political philosophy was originated by Socrates. Socrates is said to have disregarded the whole of nature altogether in order to devote himself entirely to… More

Xenophon’s Socrates

– Xenophon's Socrates, Cornell University Press, 1972.  Reprint: St. Augustine's Press, 1998.
Excerpt: The title Apomnemoneumata may be rendered provisionally by “Recollections.” Apomnemoneuein (or derivatives) occurs only once within the Memorabilia (I.2.31); there it… More

The Argument and the Action of Plato’s Laws

– The Argument and the Action of Plato's Laws, University of Chicago Press, 1975.  Reprint: University of Chicago Press, 1998.
Excerpt: In the traditional order of the Platonic dialogues the Laws is preceded by the Minos, the only Platonic dialogue in which Socrates raises the question What is law?  It appears… More

Studies in Platonic Political Philosophy

– Studies in Platonic Political Philosophy, University of Chicago Press, 1983.  Reprint: University of Chicago, 1986.
Whoever is concerned with political philosophy must face the fact that in the last two generations political philosophy has lost its credibility.  Political philosophy has lost its… More

The Rebirth of Classical Political Rationalism

– The Rebirth of Classical Political Rationalism: An Introduction to the Thought of Leo Strauss, Thomas L. Pangle, ed., University of Chicago Press, 1989.
Excerpt: Humanism is today understood in contradistinction to science, on the one hand, and to the civic art, on the other.  It is thus suggested to us that the social sciences are shaped… More

Leo Strauss on Moses Mendelssohn

– Leo Strauss on Moses Mendelssohn, translated and edited by Martin D. Yaffe, University of Chicago Press, 2012.
From the publisher: Moses Mendelssohn (1729–86) was the leading Jewish thinker of the German Enlightenment and the founder of modern Jewish philosophy. His writings, especially his… 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 The Holy

– Review of Das Heilige, by Rudolf Otto, Der Jude, Vol. 7, No. 4 (April 1923).  Reprinted in Gesammelte Schriften: Band 2.

A Note on the Discussion of “Zionism and Anti-Semitism”

– "Anmerkung zur Diskussion uber Zionismus und Antisemitismus," Judische Rundschau, Vol. 28, No. 83-84 (Sept. 28, 1923).  Reprinted in Gesammelte Schriften: Band 2.  Reprinted in Leo Strauss: The Early Writings.
Excerpt: No fact has been more decisive for the liberation of the Jewish spirit from its galut-mentality [Galuth-Gesinnung] than that disruption of Jewish solidarity which found its most… More

The Zionism of Nordau

– "Der Zionismus bei Nordau," Der Jude, Vol. 7, No. 10-11 (October-November 1923).  Reprinted in Gesammelte Schriften: Band 2.  Reprinted in Leo Strauss: The Early Writings.
Excerpt: It is the view of political Zionism that the plight of the Jews can only be alleviated by the establishment of a Jewish state, by the consolidation of the power of Jewish… More

Paul de Lagarde

– "Paul de Lagarde," Der Jude, Vol. 8, No. 1 (January 1924).  Reprinted in Gesammelte Schriften: Band 2.  Reprinted in Leo Strauss: The Early Writings.
Excerpt: The Jew is in need of an extraordinary measure of reflectiveness; while for the peoples of the world a distance is given from the start, he must first attain it by a great… More

Sociological Historiography?

– "Soziologische Geschichtsschreibung?" Der Jude, Vol. 8, No. 3 (March 1924).  Reprinted Gesammelte Schriften: Band 2.  Reprinted in Leo Strauss: The Early Writings.
Excerpt: Every author is measured first of all by the standard that he expressly acknowledges in his own work.  The best way to dispose of an author is therefore to prove that he fails to… More

Cohen’s Analysis of Spinoza’s Bible Science

– "Cohens Analyse der Bibel-Wissenchaft Spinozas," Der Jude, Vol. 8, No. 5-6 (May-June 1924).  Reprinted in Gesammelte Schriften: Band 1.  Reprinted in Leo Strauss: The Early Writings.
Excerpt: It is typical of Hermann Cohen’s style that he couches the critique of an idea in the critique of the possibly accidental expression of that idea.  This is the way of our… More

Zionism and Orthodoxy

– "Zionismus und Orthodoxie," Judische Rundschau, Vol. 29, No. 50 (June 24, 1924).  Reprinted in Gesammelte Schriften: Band 1.

Review of Contemporary Religious Thinkers

– Review of Contemporary Religious Thinkers, by Albert Levkowitz, Der Jude, Vol. 8, No. 7 (July 1924).  Reprinted in Gesammelte Schriften: Band 2.  Reprinted in Leo Strauss: The Early Writings.
Excerpt: In Contemporary Religious Thinkers: On Changes in the Modern Views of Life, which is a detailed review of the literature, Albert Levkowitz wants to acquaint with contemporary… More

Quellen des Zionismus

– "Quellen des Zionismus," Judische Rundschau, Vol. 29, No. 77-78, 79 (Sept. 26, Oct. 3 1924).

On the Argument with European Science

– "On the Argument with European Science," Der Jude, Vol. 8, No. 10 (October 1924).  Reprinted in Gesammelte Schriften: Band 2.  Reprinted in Leo Strauss: The Early Writings.
Excerpt: Now and in future, this journal will report on works on the science of religion that, for the most part, are not animated by any specifically Jewish interest.  What right do we… More

Comment on Weinberg’s Critique

– "Comment on Weinberg's Critique," Der Judische Student, Vol. 22, No. 1-2 (February 1925).  Reprinted in Gesammelte Schriften: Band 1.  Reprinted in Leo Strauss: The Early Writings.
Excerpt: What I presented at camp was the very preliminary result of my long-standing preoccupation with the problem of Zionism.  Since I never had the opportunity, either inside or… More

Ecclesia Militans

– "Ecclesia Militans," Judische Rundschau, Vol. 30, No. 36 (May 8, 1925).  Reprinted in Gesammelte Schriften: Band 2.  Reprinted in Leo Strauss: The Early Writings.
Excerpt: The Jewish Church–as, here and elsewhere, we refer to the separatist Orthodoxy of Frankfurt–is on the offensive.  This fact is of interest to us, but it does not… More

Biblical History and Science

– "Biblical History and Science," Judische Rundschau, Vol 30, No. 88 (November 10, 1925).  Reprinted in Gesammelte Schriften: Band 2.  Reprinted in Leo Strauss: The Early Writings.
Excerpt: If, in the interest of genuine science, Dubnow turns against extraneous dogmas put ahead of science or dragged along by tradition, then, by so doing, he undoubtedly also turns… More

On the Bible Science of Spinoza and His Precursors

– "On the Bible Science of Spinoza and His Precursors," Korrespondenzblatt des Vereins zur Grundung Erhaltung einer Akademie fur die Wissenschaft des Judentums, Vol. 7 (1926).  Reprinted in Gesammelte Schriften: Band 1.  Reprinted in Leo Strauss: The Early Writings.
Excerpt: Spinoza’s bible science is first of all a fact in the history of the sciences.  Spinoza has the undisputed merit of having established Bible science as a science “free… More

Review of The Future of an Illusion

– Review of The Future of an Illusion, by Sigmund Freud, Der Judische Student, Vol. 25, No. 4 (August 1928).  Reprinted in Leo Strauss: The Early Writings.
Excerpt: The following remarks are meant as a call to develop the Zionist ideology in a direction in which it is not completely developed.  They follow The Future of an Illusion by Sigmund… More

Franz Rosenzweig and the Academy for the Science of Judaism

– "Franz Rosenzweig and the Academy for the Science of Judaism," Judische Wochenzeitung fur Kassel, Hessen und Waldeck, Vol. 6, No. 49 (13 December 1929).  Reprinted in Gesammelte Schriften: Band 2.  Reprinted in Leo Strauss: The Early Writings.
Excerpt: Franz Rosenzweig’s idea, according to his express intention, was meant to be political.  This man, who as a thinker and a scholar made such great contributions to science,… More

Introductions to Pope ein Metaphysiker!

– Introductions to "Pope ein Metaphysiker!" "Sendschreiben an den Herrn Magister Lessing in Leipzig," "Kommentar zu den 'Termini der Logik' des Mose ben Maimon," and "Abhandlung über die Evidenz," Moses Mendelssohn Gesammelte Schriften: Jubiläumsausgabe: Band 2, Berlin: Akademie Verlag, 1931.  Reprinted in Gesammelte Schriften: Band 2.

Review of On the Progress of Metaphysics

– Review of On the Progress of Metaphysics, by Julius Ebbinghaus, Deutsche Literaturzeitung, Vol. 52 (December 27, 1931).  Reprinted in Gesammelte Schriften: Band 2.  Reprinted in Leo Strauss: The Early Writings.
Excerpt: We are used to people showing just scorn and mockery for the belief in progress.  However, we are also used to these very scorners and mockers having no qualms from the outset… More

Introductions to Phadon

– Introducitons to Phadon, Abhandlung von der Unkorperlichkeit der menschlichen Seele, Uber einen schriftlichen Aufsatz des Herrn de Luc and Die Seele, Moses Mendelssohn Gesammelte Schriften: Jubiläumsausgabe: Band 2, Berlin: Akademie Verlag, 1932.  Reprinted in Gesammelte Schriften: Band 2.

Notes on Carl Schmitt, The Concept of the Political

– "Notes on Carl Schmitt, The Concept of the Political," Archiv fur Sozialwissenschaft und Sozialpolitik, Vol. 67, No. 6 (August-September 1932).  Reprinted in Gesammelte Schriften: Band 3.  Reprinted in Heinrich Meier, Carl Schmitt and Leo Strauss: The Hidden Dialogue, University of Chicago Press, 1995.
Excerpt: [1] The treatise by Schmitt serves the question of the “order of the human things” (95), that is, the question of the state. In view of the fact that in the present age… More

The Testament of Spinoza

– "The Testament of Spinoza," Bayerische Israelitische Gemeindezeitung, Vol. 8, No. 21 (1 November 1932).  Reprinted in Gesammelte Schriften: Band 1.  Reprinted in Leo Strauss: The Early Writings.
Excerpt: Neutrality toward Spinoza set in once one was able to admit that the “modern worldview,” whose victory was decisively aided by Spinoza’s metaphysics, does not, or… More

Quelques Remarques sur la Science Politique de Hobbes

– "Quelques Remarques sur la Science Politique de Hobbes a propos du livre recent de M. Lubienski," trans. Alexandre Kojève, Recherches Philosphiques, Vol. 2 (April 1933).  Original Typescript: "Einige Anmerkungen uber die Politische Wissenschaft des Hobbes."  Reprinted in Gesammelte Schriften: Band 3.

Maimonides’s Doctrine of Prophecy and Its Sources

– "Maimonides's Doctrine of Prophecy and Its Sources," Le Monde Oriental (Uppsala), Vol. 28 (1934).  Reprinted in Philosophy and Law.
Excerpt: One can with a certain right call Maimonides’s position “medieval religious Enlightenment.”  With a certain right: namely if one accepts the view that not only… More

Eine vermißte Schrift Farabis

– "Eine vermißte Schrift Farabis," Monatsschrift fur Geschichte und Wissenschaft des Judentums, Vol. 80, No. 1 (January 1936).  Reprinted in Gesammelte Schriften: Band 2.

On Abravanel’s Philosophical Tendency and Political Teaching

– "On Abravanel's Philosophical Tendency and Political Teaching," Isaac Abravanel: Six Lectures, ed. J. B. Trend and H. Leowe, Cambridge University Press, 1937.  Reprinted in Gesammelte Schriften: Band 2.
Abravanel may be called the last of the Jewish philosophers of the Middle Ages. He belongs to the Middle Ages, as far as the framework and the main content of his doctrine are concerned. It… More

The Spirit of Sparta or the Taste of Xenophon

– "The Spirit of Sparta or the Taste of Xenophon," Social Research, Vol. 6, No. 4 (November 1939).
Excerpt: Xenophon’s treatise Constitution of the Lacedemonians appears to be devoted to praise of the Spartan constitution, or, which amounts to the same thing, of the Spartan mode of… More

Review of James T. Shotwell: The History of History

– Review of The History of History, by James T. Shotwell, Social Research, Vol. 8, No. 1 (February 1941).
Excerpt: There are two ways in which one may attempt to elucidate the meaning of history. One may engage in a quest for the causes of historical phenomena as such, that is, in a philosophy… More

The Literary Character of the Guide for the Perplexed

– "The Literary Character of the Guide for the Perplexed," Essays on Maimonides, ed. S. W. Baron, Columbia University Press, 1941.   Reprinted in Persecution and the Art of Writing.
Excerpt: Among the many historians who have interpreted Maimonides’ teaching, or who are making efforts to interpret it, there is scarcely one who would not agree to the principle… 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 C. E. Vaughan: Studies in the History of Political Philosophy

– Review of Studies in the History of Political Philosophy, by C. E. Vaughan, Social Research, Vol. 8, No. 3 (September 1941).  Reprinted in What is Political Philosophy?
Excerpt: Vaughan is guided by a philosophy of history, but he is not a philosophic historian. He is a dogmatic historian. He starts from a settled and even passionately asserted view… More

Persecution and the Art of Writing

– "Persecution and the Art of Writing," Social Research, Vol. 8, No. 4 (November 1941).  Reprinted in Persecution and the Art of Writing.
Excerpt: In a considerable number of countries which, for about a hundred years, have enjoyed a practically complete freedom of public discussion, that freedom is now suppressed and… More

Review of Karl Lowith: From Hegel to Nietzsche

– Review of Von Hegel bis Nietzsche, by Karl Lowith, Social Research, Vol. 8, No. 4 (November 1941).  Reprinted in What is Political Philosophy?
Excerpt: This book should be of interest to all who wish to understand the emergence of European, and in particular of German, nihilism.  Its subject may be said to be the transformation… More

Review of C. H. McIlwain: Constitutionalism, Ancient and Modern

– Review of Constitutionalism, Ancient and Modern, by C. H. McIlwain, Social Research, Vol. 9, No. 1 (February 1942).  Reprinted in What is Political Philosophy?
Excerpt: This book surveys those stages in the growth of constitutionalism which are most relevant “to the political problems facing us here and now” (p. vii).  There is a… More

Review of E. E. Powell: Spinoza and Religion

– Review of Spinoza and Religion, by E. E. Powell, Social Research, Vol. 9, No. 4 (November 1942).  Reprinted in What Is Political Philosophy?
Excerpt: An adequate understanding of Spinoza’s philosophy in general and his political philosophy in particular presupposes perfect clarity about his attitude toward religion. Has… More

The Law of Reason in the Kuzari

– "The Law of Reason in the Kuzari," Proceedings of the American Academy for Jewish Research, Vol. 13 (1943).  Reprinted in Persecution and the Art of Writing.
Excerpt: Every student of the history of philosophy assumes, tacitly or expressly, rightly or wrongly, that he knows what philosophy is or what a philosopher is. In attempting to transform… More

Review of S. B. Chrimes’s Edition of De Laudibus Legum Angliae

– Review of De Laudibus Legum Angliae, by Sir John Fortescue, ed. S. B. Chrimes, Columbia Law Review, Vol. 43, No. 6 (September 1943).  Reprinted in What Is Political Philosophy?
Excerpt: The setting stands in a somewhat melancholy contrast with the content: the conversation in which the English institutions are so highly praised, takes place while the two… 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 Classical Political Philosophy

– "On Classical Political Philosophy," Social Research, Vol. 12, No. 1 (February 1945).  Reprinted (revised) in What Is Political Philosophy?
Excerpt: TODAY the status of political philosophy is more precarious, and its meaning is more blurred, than at any time since political philosophy emerged many centuries ago, somewhere in… More

Farabi’s Plato

– "Farabi's Plato," Louis Ginzberg Jubilee Volume, American Academy for Jewish Research, 1945.  Reprinted, revised and abbreviated, in Persecution and the Art of Writing.
Excerpt: Farabi followed Plato not merely as regards the manner in which he presented the philosophic teaching in his most important books.  He held the view that Plato’s philosophy… More

Review of John O. Riedl’s Edition of Errores Philosophorum

– Review of Errores Philosophorum, by Giles of Rome, ed. John O. Riedl, Church History, Vol. 15, No. 1 (March 1946).
Excerpt: The Errores is a valuable document of the thirteenth century conflict between the Christian teaching and the teaching of “the philosophers,” i.e., of Aristotle and the… More

Review of Leonardo Olschki: Machiavelli the Scientist

– Review of Machiavelli the Scientist, by Leonardo Olschki, Social Research, Vol. 13, No. 1 (March 1946).  Reprinted in What Is Political Philosophy?
Excerpt: According to Olschki, however, Machiavelli was primarily interested in elaborating” a new science of man which anticipated in spirit and mental procedure Galileo’s… More

Review of Heinrich A. Rommen: The State in Catholic Thought

– Review of The State in Catholic Thought: A Treatise in Political Philosophy, by Heinrich A. Rommen, Social Research, Vol. 13, No. 2 (June 1946).  Reprinted in What Is Political Philosophy?
Excerpt: Anyone who wishes to judge impartially of the legitimacy or the prospects of the great design of modern man to erect the City of Man on what appear to him to be the ruins of the… More

Review of Anton C. Pegis’ Edition of Basic Writings of Saint Thomas Aquinas

– Review of Basic Writings of Saint Thomas Aquinas, ed. Anton C. Pegis, Social Research, Vol. 13, No. 2 (June 1946).  Reprinted in What is Political Philosophy?
Excerpt: Pegis’ summary account of the problem with which Thomas was confronted and of his solution is clear, sober and, on most points, convincing. H e observes that “the… 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 Ernst Cassirer: The Myth of the State

– Review of The Myth of the State, by Ernst Cassirer, Social Research, Vol. 14, No. 1 (March 1947).  Reprinted in What Is Political Philosophy?
Excerpt: However one may have to judge this view of myth, Cassirer is certainly right in negatively characterizing philosophy proper by its “struggle against myth.” In Greek… 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

On the Intention of Rousseau

– "On the Intention of Rousseau," Social Research, Vol. 14, No. 4 (December 1947).
Excerpt: The antiquarian controversy about the intention of Rousseau conceals a political controversy about the nature of democracy. Modern democracy might seem to stand or fell by the… More

How to Study Spinoza’s Theologico-Political Treatise

– "How to Study Spinoza's Theologico-Political Treatise," Proceedings of the American Academy for Jewish Research, Vol. 17 (1948).  Reprinted in Persecution and the Art of Writing.
Excerpt: The reason why a fresh investigation of Spinoza’s Theologico-Political Treatise’ is in order, is obvious. The chief aim of the Treatise is to refute the claims which… More

Political Philosophy and History

– "Political Philosophy and History," Journal of the History of Ideas, Vol. 10, No. 1 (January 1949).  Reprinted in What Is Political Philosophy?
Excerpt: Political philosophy is not a historical discipline. The philosophic questions of the nature of political things and of the best, or just, political order are fundamentally… More

Review of J. W. Gough: John Locke’s Political Philosophy

– Review of John Locke's Political Philosophy, by J. W. Gough, American Political Science Review, Vol. 44, No. 3 (September 1950).  Reprinted in What Is Political Philosophy?
Excerpt: Gough’s view is the outcome of his method. He has tried to understand Locke historically, but his notion of what “historical” means, is much too narrow. His only… More

On the Spirit of Hobbes’s Political Philosophy

– "On the Spirit of Hobbes's Political Philosophy," Revue Internationale de Philosophie, Vol. 4, No. 14 (October 1950).  Reprinted in Natural Right and History (Ch. 3A).
Excerpt: Hobbes rejects the idealistic tradition on the basis of a fundamental agreement with it.  he means to do adequately what the Socratic tradition did in a wholly inadequate… More

Natural Right and the Historical Approach

– "Natural Right and the Historical Approach," Review of Politics, Vol. 12, No. 4 (October 1950).  Reprinted in Natural Right and History (Ch. 1).
Excerpt: THE attack on natural right* in the name of history takes in most cases the following form: natural right claims to be a right that is discernible by human reason and is… More

The Social Science of Max Weber

– "The Social Science of Max Weber," Measure, Vol. 2, No. 2 (Spring 1951).  Reprinted in Natural Right and History  (Ch. 2).
Excerpt: Weber, who regarded himself as a disciple of the historical school came very close to historicism, and a strong case can be made for the view that his reservations against… More

Review of David Grene: Man in His Pride

– Review of Man in His Pride: A Study in the Political Philosophy of Thucydides and Plato, by David Grene, Social Research, Vol. 18, No. 3 (September 1951).  Reprinted in What Is Political Philosophy?
Excerpt: He is more concerned with bringing to light and to life the hidden drama of the souls of Thucydides and Plato, or the human reality of fifth-century Athens as reflected in… More

The Origin of the Idea of Natural Right

– "The Origin of the Idea of Natural Right," Social Research, Vol. 19, No. 1 (March 1952).  Reprinted in Natural Right and History (Ch. 3).
Excerpt: To understand the problem of natural right, one must start not from a “scientific” understanding of political things but from a “natural” understanding of… More

Review of Yves R. Simon: Philosophy of Democratic Government

– Review of Philosophy of Democratic Government, by Yves R. Simon, New Scholasticism, Vol. 26, No. 3 (July 1952).  Reprinted in What Is Political Philosophy?
Excerpt: Simon’s philosophy of democratic government is chiefly, not to say exclusively, concerned with modern democracy, i.e., with a kind of democracy which operates within… More

On Locke’s Doctrine of Natural Right

– "On Locke's Doctrine of Natural Right," Philosophical Review, Vol. 61, No. 4 (October 1952).  Reprinted in Natural Right and History (Ch. 5B).
It is on the basis of Hobbes’s view of the law of nature that Locke opposes Hobbes’s conclusions.  He tries to show that Hobbes’s principle–the right of… More

Walker’s Machiavelli

– "Walker's Machiavelli," review of Discourses of Niccolò Machiavelli, ed. L. J. Walker, Review of Metaphysics, Vol. 6, No. 3 (March 1953).
Excerpt: Walker is not the first to contend that Machiavelli’s achievement consists chiefly or exclusively in the discovery of a new method. In fact, it would appear that the view… More

Maimonides’ Statement on Political Science

– "Maimonides' Statement on Political Science," Proceedings of the American Academy for Jewish Research, Vol. 22 (1953).  Reprinted in What Is Political Philosophy?
Excerpt: Whereas the nomos entails a religion that is in the service of government, the divinely revealed law which is a subject of the same branch of political philosophy as the nomos puts… More

On a Forgotten Kind of Writing

– "On a Forgotten Kind of Writing," Chicago Review, Vol. 8, No. 1 (Winter-Spring 1954).  Reprinted in What Is Political Philosophy?
Excerpt: In studying certain earlier thinkers, I became aware of this way of conceiving the relation between the quest for truth (philosophy or science) and society: Philosophy or science,… More

Social Science and Humanism

– "Social Science and Humanism," The State of the Social Sciences, ed. Leonard D. White, University of Chicago Press, 1956.  Reprinted in The Rebirth of Classical Political Rationalism.
Excerpt: Humanism is today understood in contradistinction to science, on the one hand, and to the civic art, on the other.  It is thus suggested to us that the social sciences are shaped… 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

How Farabi Read Plato’s Laws

– "How Farabi Read Plato's Laws," Mélanges Louis Massignon, Institut Francais de Damas, 1957, Vol. 3.  Reprinted in What Is Political Philosophy?
Excerpt: At first it seems as if Farabi meant to say that all insights which he ascribed to Plato were peculiar to Plato. What he actually says however is that Plato did not find the… More

Machiavelli’s Intention: The Prince

– "Machiavelli's Intention: The Prince," American Political Science Review, Vol. 51, No. 1 (March 1957).  Reprinted in Thoughts on Machiavelli (Ch. 2).
Excerpt: Let us follow this movement somewhat more closely. At first sight The Prince belongs to the traditional genre of Mirrors of Princes, which are primarily addressed to legitimate… More

Review of J. L. Talmon: The Nature of Jewish History

– Review of The Nature of Jewish History -- Its Universal Significance, by J. L. Talmon, Journal of Modern History, Vol. 29, No. 3 (September 1957).  Reprinted in Studies in Platonic Political Philosophy.
Excerpt: This is an earnest statement by a man who is both a Jew and a historian rather than a Jewish historian. According to him, the historian who studies the fate of the Jewish people… More

Locke’s Doctrine of Natural Law

– "Locke's Doctrine of Natural Law," American Political Science Review, Vol. 52, No. 2 (June 1958).  Reprinted in What Is Political Philosophy?
Excerpt: Let us not be shocked by this shocking self-contra- diction but rather limit ourselves to noting that according to Locke’s most frequent assertion it is only knowledge of the… More

The Liberalism of Classical Political Philosophy

– "The Liberalism of Classical Political Philosophy," Review of Metaphysics, Vol. 12, No. 3 (March 1959).  Reprinted in Liberalism Ancient and Modern.  Review essay on E. A. Havelock: The Liberal Temper in Greek Politics.
Excerpt: Some readers may blame us for having devoted so much time and space to the examination of an unusually poor book. We do not believe that their judgment of the book is fair. Books… More

What Is Political Philosophy?

– "What Is Political Philosophy?" What Is Political Philosophy, The Free Press, 1959.  Revised version of the Judah L. Magnes Lectures given at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem in December 1954-January 1955.  Hebrew translation published in Iyyun in April 1955.
Excerpt: When we describe the political philosophy of Plato and of Aristotle as classical political philosophy, we imply that it is the classic form of political philosophy. The classic was… 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

On the Basis of Hobbes’s Political Philosophy

– "On the Basis of Hobbes's Political Philosophy," What Is Political Philosophy?, The Free Press, 1959.  First printing of English original of "Les fondements de la philosophie politque de Hobbes," Critique, Vol. 10, No. 83 (April 1954).
Excerpt: We begin by wondering why we should study Hobbes.  This question implies that we doubt whether Hobbes’s teaching is the true teaching.  It implies, therefore, that our… More

Comment on W. S. Hudson: The Weber Thesis Re-examined

– "Comment on W. S. Hudson: The Weber Thesis Re-examined," Church History, Vol. 30, No. 1 (March 1961).
Excerpt: This meeting, I gather, is concerned with the need for reinterpretation. I am not at all certain that reinterpretation is a universal necessity, i.e., that there cannot be final or… More

“Relativism”

– "Relativism," Relativism and the Study of Man, ed. Helmut Schoeck and James W. Wiggins, Van Nostrand, 1961.  Reprinted in The Rebirth of Classical Political Rationalism.
Excerpt: “Relativism” has many meanings. In order not to become confused by the “blind scholastic pedantry” that exhausts itself and its audience in the… More

Liberal Education and Responsibility

– "Liberal Education and Responsibility," Education: The Challenge Ahead, ed. C. Scott Fletcher, Norton, 1962.  Reprinted in Liberalism Ancient and Modern.
Excerpt: In the light of philosophy, liberal education takes on a new meaning: liberal education, especially education in the liberal arts, comes to sight as a preparation for philosophy. … More

An Epilogue

– "An Epilogue," Essays on the Scientific Study of Politics, ed. Herbert J. Storing, Holt Rinehart and Winston, 1962.  Reprinted in Liberalism Ancient and Modern.
Excerpt: There is, then, more than a mysterious pre-established harmony between the new political science and a certain version of liberal democracy. The alleged value-free analysis of… 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

How to Begin to Study The Guide of the Perplexed

– "How to Begin to Study The Guide of the Perplexed," Moses Maimonides: The Guide of the Perplexed, trans. Shlomo Pines, University of Chicago Press, 1963.  Reprinted in Liberalism Ancient and Modern.
Excerpt: The simple statement of the plan of the Guide suffices to show that the book is sealed with many seals.  At the end of its Introduction, Maimonides describes the preceding passage… 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

Introduction to History of Political Philosophy

– "Introduction," History of Political Philosophy, ed. Leo Strauss and Joseph Cropsey, Rand McNally, 1963.  Second Edition: Rand McNally, 1972.  Third Edition, University of Chicago Press, 1987.
Excerpt: Today “political philosophy” has become almost synonymous with “ideology,” not to say “myth.” It surely is understood in contradistinction to… More

Plato

– "Plato," History of Political Philosophy, ed. Leo Strauss and Joseph Cropsey, Rand McNally, 1963.  Second Edition: Rand McNally, 1972.  Third Edition, University of Chicago Press, 1987.
Excerpt: The Nocturnal Council is to be for the city what the mind is for the human individual. To perform its function its members must possess above everything else the most adequate… More

Marsilius of Padua

– "Marsilius of Padua," History of Political Philosophy, ed., Leo Strauss and Joseph Cropsey, Rand McNally, 1963.  Second Edition: Rand McNally, 1972.  Third Edition, University of Chicago Press, 1987.
Excerpt: As regards the principles of political philosophy, Marsilius presents himself as a strict follower of Aristotle, “the divine philosopher” or “the pagan… More

Review of C. B. Macpherson: The Political Theory of Possessive Individualism

– Review of The Political Theory of Possessive Individualism, by C. B. Macpherson, Southwestern Social Science Quarterly, Vol. 45, No. 1 (June 1964).  Reprinted in Studies in Platonic Political Philosophy.
Excerpt: This serious and lucidly written book starts from the contemporary crisis in political theory which is diagnosed by the author as a crisis of the theory of liberal democracy. … More

Review of Samuel I. Mintz: The Hunting of Leviathan

– Review of The Hunting of Leviathan: Seventeenth-Century Reactions to the Materialism and Moral Philosophy of Thomas Hobbes, by Samuel I. Mintz, Modern Philology, Vol. 62, No. 3 (February 1965).
Excerpt: Hobbes was attacked in the first place on account of his materialism, materialism being regarded by all of his critics as the “main root of atheism” (p. 67).… 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

A Note on Lucretius

– "A Note on Lucretius," Natur und Geshichte: Karl Lowith zum 70, Geburtsag.  W. Kohlhammer Verlag, 1967.  Reprinted in "Notes on Lucretius," Liberalism Ancient and Modern.
Excerpt: Lucretius’ work is a poetic exposition of Epicurean philosophy. The reader who opens the book for the first time and peruses its opening does not know through firsthand… More

Notes on Maimonides’ Book of Knowledge

– "Notes on Maimonides' Book of Knowledge," Studies in Mysticism and Religion Presented to Gershom G. Scholem on His Seventieth Birthday by Pupils, Colleagues, and Friends, Magnes Press, The Hebrew University, 1967.  Reprinted in Studies in Platonic Political Philosophy.
Excerpt: If it is true that the Guide of the Perplexed is not a philosophic book but a Jewish book, it is surely not a Jewish book in the same manner in which the Mishneh Torah is a Jewish… More

John Locke as “Authoritarian”

– "John Locke as 'Authoritarian,'" review of John Locke: Two Tracts on Government, by Philip Abrams, Intercollegiate Review, Vol. 4, No. 1 (November-December 1967).
Excerpt: The question regarding the Hobbianism of the young Locke may be said to be of sonic importance with a view to the fundamental question regarding the political philosophy of the… More

Natural Law

– "Natural Law," International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences, Vol. 2 (1968).   Reprinted in Studies in Platonic Political Philosophy.
Excerpt: Natural law, which was for many centuries the basis of the predominant Western political thought, is rejected in our time by almost all students of society who are not Roman… More

On the Minos

– Liberalism Ancient and Modern, Basic Books, 1968.  Reprint: University of Chicago Press, 1995.
Excerpt: The Minos has come down to us as a Platonic work immediately preceding the Laws. The Laws begins where the Minos ends: the Minos ends with a praise of the laws of the Cretan king… More

Notes on Lucretius

– "Notes on Lucretius," Liberalism Ancient and Modern, Basic Books, 1968.  Reprint: University of Chicago Press, 1995.
Excerpt: Lucretius’ work is a poetic exposition of Epicurean philosophy. The reader who opens the book for the first time and peruses its opening does not know through firsthand… More

Greek Historians

– "Greek Historians," review of Greek Historical Writing: A Historiographical Essay Based on Xenophon's "Hellenica," by W. P. Henry, Review of Metaphysics, Vol. 21, No. 4 (June 1968).
Excerpt: The author starts from the premiss that “the most important aspect of the study of history is . . . historiography.” He means by this that the most important aspect of… More

Machiavelli and Classical Literature

– "Machiavelli and Classical Literature," Review of National Literatures, Vol. 1, No. 1 (Spring 1970).
Excerpt: I shall speak somewhat less briefly on La Vita de Castruccio Castracani da Lucca, For this graceful little work reveals Machiavelli s moral taste in a more direct or simple and… More

A Giving of Accounts

– "A Giving of Accounts," with Jacob Klein, The College, Vol. 22, No. 1 (April 1970).
Excerpt: I must begin with an introduction to my introduction.  Some faculty members, I was told, had misgivings about this meeting.  The only ones which are justified concern this… More

On the Euthydemus

– "On the Euthydemus," Interpretation, Vol. 1, No. 1 (Summer 1970).
Excerpt: From the Crito we are led to the Euthydemus by the consideration that the Euthydemus contains the only other conversation between Socrates and Kriton. The two dialogues stand… More

Philosophy as Rigorous Science and Political Philosophy

– "Philosophy as Rigorous Science and Political Philosophy," Interpretation, Vol. 2, No. 1 (Summer 1971).  Reprinted in Studies in Platonic Political Philosophy.
Excerpt: Whoever is concerned with political philosophy must face the fact that in the last two generations political philosophy has lost its credibility. Political philosophy has lost its… More

Niccolo Machiavelli

– History of Political Philosophy, ed. Leo Strauss and Joseph Cropsey, Rand McNally, 1963.  Second Edition: Rand McNally, 1972.  Third Edition, University of Chicago Press, 1987.
Excerpt: Men often speak of virtue without using the word but saying instead “the quality of life” or “the great society” or “ethical” or even… More

Introductory Essay to Religion of Reason out of the Sources of Judaism

– "Introductory Essay," Religion of Reason out of the Sources of Judaism, by Hermann Cohen, 1972.  Reprinted in Studies in Platonic Political Philosophy.
Excerpt: I doubt whether I am the best mediator between Hermann Cohen (1842-1918) and the present-day American reader.   I grew up in an environment in which Cohen was the center of… More

Note on the Plan of Nietzsche’s Beyond Good and Evil

– "Note on the Plan of Nietzsche's Beyond Good and Evil," Interpretation, Vol. 3, No. 2-3 (Winter 1973).  Reprinted in Studies in Platonic Political Philosophy.
Excerpt: Beyond Good and Evil always seemed to me to be the most beautiful of Nietzsche’s books. This impression could be thought to be contradicted by his judgement, for he was… More

Introductions to Morgenstunden and An die Freunde Lessings

– Introductions to Morgenstunden and An die Freunde Lessings as well as Sache Gottes oder die gerettete Vorsehung, Moses Mendelssohn: Gesammelte Schriften Jubilaumsausgabe, Band 3, 1974.  Reprinted in Leo Strauss: Gesammelte Schriften, Band 2.

Preliminary Observations on the Gods in Thucydides’ Work

– "Preliminary Observations on the Gods in Thucydides' Work," Interpretation, Vol. 4, No. 1 (Winter 1974).  Reprinted in Studies in Platonic Political Philosophy.
Excerpt: For Thucydides the war between the Peloponnesians and the Athenians was, as he expected from the beginning, the most noteworthy motion so to speak, the greatest motion of all times… More

The Three Waves of Modernity

– "The Three Waves of Modernity," Political Philosophy: Six Essays, ed. Hilail Gildin, Pegasus-Bobbs-Merrill, 1975.
Excerpt: The crisis of modernity reveals itself in the fact, or consists in the fact, that modern western man no longer knows what he wants–that he no longer believes that he can know… More

Xenophon’s Anabasis

– "Xenophon's Anabasis," Interpretation, Vol. 4, No. 3 (Spring 1975).  Reprinted in Studies in Platonic Political Philosophy.
Excerpt: Xenophon’s Anabasis seems today to be regarded universally as his most beautiful book. I do not quarrel with this judgment. I merely wonder what its grounds are. The question… More

On Plato’s Apology of Socrates and Crito

– "On Plato's Apology of Socrates and Crito," Essays in Honor of Jacob Klein, St. John's College, 1976.
Excerpt: The Apology of Socrates is the only Platonic work with Socrates in the title.  Yet Socrates is visibly the chief character in all Platonic dialogues: all Platonic dialogues are… More

Correspondence with Hans-Georg Gadamer Concerning Wahrheit und Methode

– "Correspondence with Hans-Georg Gadamer Concerning Wahrheit und Methode," Independent Journal of Philosophy, Vol. 2 (1978).
But what is the basis of these and similar difficulties which I encountered in reading your book 9. You are fundamentally concerned with “Wirkungsgeschichte,” with something… More

Letter to Helmut Kuhn

– Letter to Helmut Kuhn, Independent Journal of Philosophy, Vol. 2 (1978).
Excerpt: Forgive me for writing to you in English but my hand-writing is hard to read and the lady who is taking down my dictation does not have an easy command of German.  You have… More

An Unspoken Prologue to a Public Lecture at St. John’s

– "An Unspoken Prologue to a Public Lecture at St. John's," Interpretation, Vol. 7, No. 3 (September 1978).
Excerpt: Nothing affected us as profoundly in the years in which our minds took their lasting directions as the thought of Heidegger.  This is not the place for speaking of that thought… More

The Mutual Influence of Theology and Philosophy

– "The Mutual Influence of Theology and Philosophy," Independent Journal of Philosophy, Vol. 3 (1979).
Excerpt: When we attempt to return to the roots of Western civilization , we observe soon that Western civilization has two r0ots which are in conflict with each other, the biblical and the… More

On the Interpretation of Genesis

– "On the Interpretation of Genesis," Revue francaise d'anthropologie, Vol. 21, No. 2 (January - March 1981).
Excerpt: I want to begin with the remark that I am not a biblical scholar; I am a political scientist specializing in political theory. Political theory is frequently said to be concerned… More

Progress or Return?

– "Progress or Return? The Contemporary Crisis in Western Civilization," Modern Judaism, Vol. 1, No. 1 (May 1981).  Reprinted in The Rebirth of Classical Political Rationalism.
Excerpt: The title of this lecture indicates that progress has become a problem-that it could seem as if progress has led us to the brink of an abyss, and it is therefore necessary to… More

Correspondence Concerning Modernity

– "Correspondence Concerning Modernity," Independent Journal of Philosophy, Vol. 4 (1983).  Reprinted in Leo Strauss: Gesammelte Schriften, Band 3.

Note on Maimonides’ Letter on Astrology

– "Note on Maimonides' Letter on Astrology," Studies in Platonic Political Philosophy, University of Chicago Press, 1983.
Excerpt: The addressees of this Letter had asked Maimonides for his view about astrology.  After having praised their question, he says that if they had known his Mishneh Torah, they would… More

Note on Maimonides’ Treatise on the Art of Logic

– "Note on Maimonides' Treatise on the Art of Logic," Studies in Platonic Political Philosophy, University of Chicago Press, 1983.
Excerpt: Toward the end of chapter 11 and in chapter 13, Maimonides begins to refer again to the Arabic grammarian.  In chapter 14, the concluding chapter, he speaks above all of the… More

Exoteric Teaching

– "Exoteric Teaching," Interpretation, Vol. 14, No. 1 (January 1986).  Reprinted in The Rebirth of Classical Political Rationalism.
Excerpt: The distinction between exoteric (or public) and esoteric (or secret) teaching is not at present considered to be of any significance for the understanding of the thought of the… More

Correspondence

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

Thucydides: The Meaning of Political History

– "Thucydides: The Meaning of Political History," The Rebirth of Classical Political Rationalism: An Introduction to the Thought of Leo Strauss, Thomas L. Pangle, ed., University of Chicago Press, 1989.
Excerpt: This lecture forms part of a series: The Western Tradition–Its Great Ideas and Issues, The Western tradition is threatened today as it never was heretofore. For it is now… More

The Problem of Socrates: Five Lectures

– "The Problem of Socrates: Five Lectures," The Rebirth of Classical Political Rationalism: An Introduction to the Thought of Leo Strauss, Thomas L. Pangle, ed., University of Chicago Press, 1989. Published, complete and unedited, as "The Origins of Political Science and the Problem of Socrates: Six Public Lectures," Interpretation, Vol. 23, No. 2 (Winter 1996).
Excerpt: For according to Plato as well as to Aristotle, to the extent to which the human problem cannot be solved by political means it can be solved only by philosophy, by and through the… More

On the Euthyphron

– "On the Euthyphron," The Rebirth of Classical Political Rationalism: An Introduction to the Thought of Leo Strauss, Thomas L. Pangle, ed., University of Chicago Press, 1989. Complete, unedited version published as "An Untitled Lecture on Plato's Euthyphron," Interpretation, Vol. 24, No. 1 (Fall 1996).
Excerpt: The subject matter of the Euthyphron is piety. For more than one reason the Euthyphron does not tell us what Plato thought about piety. It certainly does not transmit to us… More

How to Begin to Study Medieval Philosophy

– "How to Begin to Study Medieval Philosophy," The Rebirth of Classical Political Rationalism: An Introduction to the Thought of Leo Strauss, Thomas L. Pangle, ed., University of Chicago Press, 1989. Complete, unedited version published as "How to Study Medieval Philosophy," Interpretation, Vol. 23, No. 3 (Spring 1996).
Excerpt: The attempt to understand a philosopher of the past better than he understood himself presupposes that the interpreter considers his insight superior to the insight of the old… More

The Strauss – Voegelin Correspondence 1934-1964

– "The Strauss - Voegelin Correspondence 1934-1964," Faith and Political Philosophy, translated and edited by Perry Emberley and Barry Cooper, The Pennsylvania State University Press, 1993.
Excerpt: People like Cairns (perhaps without knowing it) arrived from the Platonic-Aristotelian concept of science–indeed, not at their position, which is not worth… More

Two Letters to Eric Voegelin

– "Two Letters to Eric Voegelin," Eric Voegelin, Alfred Schutz, Leo Strauss and Aron Gurwitsch: Briefwechsel uber Die Neue Wissenschaft der Politik, Verlag Karl Alber, 1993.

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

The Problem of Socrates

– "The Problem of Socrates," Interpretation, Vol. 22, No. 2 (Spring 1995).  Talk given on April 17, 1970, at St. John's College, Annapolis.
Excerpt: [I was told that the local paper has announced that I lecture tonight on “The problems of Socrates.” This was an engaging printing error; for there is more than one… More

Existentialism

– "Existentialism," Interpretation, Vol. 22, No. 3 (Spring 1995).  Talk given in February 1956 at the University of Chicago.  Reprinted in The Rebirth of Classical Political Rationalism.
The deepest root of the west is a specific understanding of being, a specific experience of being. The specifically western experience of being led to the consequence that the ground of… More

Der Konspektivismus

– "Der Konspektivismus," Gesammelte Schriften: Band 2, Heinrich Meier, ed.,  1997.

Cohen und Maimuni

– "Cohen und Maimuni," Gesammelte Schriften: Band 2, Heinrich Meier, ed.,  1997.

Freud on Moses and Monotheism

– "Freud on Moses and Monotheism," Jewish Philosophy and the Crisis of Modernity, Kenneth Hart Green, ed., State University of New York Press, 1997.
Excerpt: The first sentence is: “To deny a people the man whom it praises as the greatest of its sons is not a deed to be undertaken lightheartedly–especially by one belonging… 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 Living Issues of German Postwar Philosophy

– "The Living Issues of German Postwar Philosophy," Leo Strauss and the Theologico-Political Problem, by Heinrich Meier, Cambridge University Press, 2006.
Excerpt: But Husserl was not the only superior mind who was responsible for the great change we have been witnessing. At least as influential in this respect was the work of Nietzsche.… More

Reason and Revelation

– "Reason and Revelation," Leo Strauss and the Theologico-Political Problem, Cambridge University Press, 2006.  Talk given on April 27, 1948, at Hartford Theological Seminary.
Excerpt: Today, we do not have a direct access to what philosophy originally meant. Our concept of philosophy is derived from modern philosophy, i.e. a derivative form of philosophy. Modern… More

What Can We Learn from Political Theory?

– "What Can We Learn from Political Theory?" Review of Politics, Vol. 69, No. 4 (Fall 2007).  Talk given in July 1942 at the New School for Social Research.
Excerpt: The title of this lecture is not entirely of my own choosing. I do not like very much the term political theory; I would prefer to speak of political philosophy. Since this… 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

Die Religionskritik des Hobbes

– "Die Religionskritik des Hobbes: Ein Beitrag zum verstandnis der Aufklarung," Gesammelte Schriften: Band 3, Heinrich Meier, ed., 2008.

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

Leo Strauss on Modern Political Science

– Svetozar Minkov and Rasoul Namazi eds., "Leo Strauss on Modern Political Science: TwoPreviously Unpublished Manuscripts," Review of Politics, 79, 2017.b
Two previously unpublished lectures by Leo Strauss on modern political science, the first delivered in 1956, the second between 1957-1962.

Commentary

The Philosophers’ Hidden Truth

– Irving Kristol, "The Philosophers' Hidden Truth," Commentary Magazine, October 1952.
Excerpt: It is to the answering of this question, and not only with regard to Plato but also as it affects all pre-Enlightenment thinkers of significance, that Professor Leo… More

Thoughts on Machiavelli by Leo Strauss

– Willmoore Kendall, "Thoughts on Machiavelli by Leo Strauss," Philosophical Review, Vol. 75, No. 2 (Apr. 1966).
Excerpt: One of the marvels of Professor Strauss’s Thoughts on Machiavelli is not so much that it dispels the confusion as to what Machiavelli was up to, and whether he was or was not… More

Philosophy and Politics I and II

– Victor Gourevitch, "Philosophy and Politics I," Review of Metaphysics, Vol. 22, No. 1 (Sep. 1968). Victor Gourevitch, "Philosophy and Politics I," Review of Metaphysics, Vol. 22, No. 2 (Dec. 1968).
Excerpt: On the face of it, On Tyranny is a straightforward commentary on Xenophon’s dialogue Hiero or Tyrannicus. As such it is a very model of thoroughness and learning. It amply… More

Meaning and Understanding in the History of Ideas

– Quentin Skinner, "Meaning and Understanding in the History of Ideas," History and Theory, Vol. 8, No. 1 (1969).
Excerpt: My aim is to consider what I take to be the basic question which necessarily arises whenever an historian of ideas’ confronts a work which he hopes to understand. Such an… More

Leo Strauss: September 20, 1899-October 18, 1973

– Allan Bloom, "Leo Strauss: September 20, 1899-October 18, 1973," Political Theory, Vol. 2, No. 4 (Nov. 1974).
Excerpt: On October 18, 1973, Leo Strauss died in Annapolis, Maryland.  He was one of the very small number of men whose thought has had seminal influence in political theory in our time.… More

Strauss’s Machiavelli

– Harvey C. Mansfield, "Strauss's Machiavelli," Political Theory, Nov. 1975, pp. 372-384.
Excerpt: Thoughts on Machiavelli is an exoteric book, that is, a book containing much that is appreciably esoteric to any ordinary reader stated m a manner either so elusive or so… More

Review of the City and Man

– Seth Benardete, "Leo Strauss' The City and Man," Political Science Reviewer, Fall 1978.
Excerpt: Leo Strauss’ The City and Man seems at first to be a straightforward continuation of all his previous work: the articulation of the theological-political problem. Even the… More

Strauss’ Natural Right and History

– Richard Kennington, "Strauss' Natural Right and History," Review of Metaphysics, Vol. 35, No. 1 (Sep. 1981).
Excerpt: At the time Strauss published Natural Right and History (1953)  the state of the question of natural right was a mixture of oblivion and fitful restoration. Natural right had… More

Philosophy and History

– Nathan Tarcov, "Philosophy and History: Tradition and Interpretation in the Work of Leo Strauss, Polity, Vol. 16, No. 1 (Autumn, 1983).
Excerpt: The necessity of critical or philosophical activity is increased by the literary character shared to different degrees and purposes by most of the writings Strauss… More

Strauss on Xenophon’s Socrates

– Christopher Bruell, "Strauss on Xenophon's Socrates," The Political Science Reviewer, Fall 1983.
Excerpt: The following study of Professor Leo Strauss’s writings on Xenophon’s presentation of Socrates will be devoted chiefly to a discussion of his interpretation of the… More

Leo Strauss and the History of Political Philosophy

– Nathan Tarcov and Thomas L. Pangle, "Epilogue: Leo Strauss and the History of Political Philosophy," History of Political Philosophy, Third Edition, ed. Leo Strauss and Joseph Cropsey, University of Chicago Press, 1987.
Excerpt: A student using this book might legitimately and naturally wonder about the approach to the teaching of political philosophy presented here. The originator of this approach was the… More

On a Certain Critique of “Straussianism”

– Nathan Tarcov, "On a Certain Critique of 'Straussianism,'" The Review of Politics, Vol. 53, No. 1 (Winter 1991).
Excerpt: This article examines a certain critique of what I will take the liberty of calling “Straussianism,” a critique which raises questions I believe are worth discussing,… More

Natural Right and Philosophy

– Stewart Umphrey, "Natural Right and Philosophy," The Review of Politics, Vol. 53, No. 1 (Winter 1991).
Excerpt: “The problem inherent in the surface of things, and only in the surface of things, is the heart of things.” So wrote Leo Strauss in his Thoughts on Machiavelli.’… More

Philosophy and Law: Leo Strauss as a Student of Medieval Jewish Thought

– Hillel Fradkin, "Philosophy and Law: Leo Strauss as a Student of Medieval Jewish Thought," The Review of Politics, Vol. 53, No. 1 (Winter 1991).
Excerpt: It is therefore necessary to try to address not only his contributions to the understanding of medieval Jewish thought but the latter’s role in his general legacy. It is only… More

Strauss before Straussianism: Reason, Revelation, and Nature

– John G. Gunnell, "Strauss before Straussianism: Reason, Revelation, and Nature," The Review of Politics, Vol. 53, No. 1 (Winter 1991).
Excerpt: Despite the impact of Leo Strauss on American political science and political theory, where, exactly, Strauss was “coming from,” in both senses of that phrase, has been… More

Leo Strauss: Between Athens and Jerusalem

– Steven B. Smith, "Leo Strauss: Between Athens and Jerusalem," The Review of Politics, Vol. 53, No. 1 (Winter 1991).
Excerpt: Harold Bloom, the Yale literary critic, once described Leo Strauss as “political philosopher and Hebraic sage.”‘ This always seemed to me unusually prescient. For… More

On the Epistolary Dialogue between Leo Strauss and Eric Voegelin

– Thomas L. Pangle, "On the Epistolary Dialogue between Leo Strauss and Eric Voegelin," The Review of Politics, Vol. 53, No. 1 (Winter 1991).
Excerpt: The philosophic correspondence between Leo Strauss and Eric Voegelin, stretching over thirty years, sheds some helpful light on each of the thinkers’ philosophic… More

A Latitude for Statesmanship? Strauss on St. Thomas

– James V. Schall, "A Latitude for Statesmanship? Strauss on St. Thomas," The Review of Politics, Vol. 53, No. 1 (Winter 1991).
Excerpt: Leo Strauss often spoke of Jerusalem and Athens.2 He never spoke of Rome in the same context, never of Jerusalem, Athens, and Rome. Western civilization, in his view, was… More

Blasphemy and Leo Strauss’s Machiavelli

– Dante Germino, "Blasphemy and Leo Strauss's Machiavelli," The Review of Politics, Vol. 53, No. 1 (Winter 1991).
Excerpt: In 1966, I published a review article hailing Leo Strauss’s Thoughts on Machiavelli as an instant classic. I also expressed some reservations or “second thoughts”… More

Leo Strauss and the American Founding

– Thomas G. West, "Leo Strauss and the American Founding," The Review of Politics, Vol. 53, No. 1 (Winter 1991).
Excerpt: Strauss devoted his life to the recovery of classical political philosophy. The incentive for this enterprise was what Strauss called “the crisis of the West.” That… More

Strauss’s Laws

– Mark Blitz, "Strauss's Laws," Political Science Reviewer, Spring 1991.
Excerpt: After quietly sketching these profound questions, Strauss turns to “the beginning of the Laws,” where the Athenian asks Kleinias the Cretan whether a god or a human is… More

Leo Strauss and Nietzsche

– Laurence Lampert, Leo Strauss and Nietzsche, University of Chicago Press, 1996.
From the publisher: The influential political philosopher Leo Strauss has been credited by conservatives with the recovery of the great tradition of political philosophy stretching back to… More

Leo Strauss and the Possibility of Philosophy

– Stanley Rosen, "Leo Strauss and the Possibility of Philosophy, The Review of Metaphysics, Vol. 53, No. 3 (Mar. 2000).
Excerpt: To put this in another way, Strauss articulated a public teaching that was not necessarily in conflict with his private views on philosophy, but which served as an ambiguous… More

Was Leo Strauss Wrong About John Locke?

– James R. Stoner, Jr., "Was Leo Strauss Wrong About John Locke," Claremont Review of Books, 23 December 2002.
Excerpt: Was Leo Strauss wrong about John Locke?  Surely that he was has been the consensus among historians of political thought, though their reasons are sometimes at variance.  The… More

What was Leo Strauss up to? by Steven Lenzner and William Kristol

– Steven Lenzner and William Kristol, "What Was Leo Strauss Up To?," Public Interest, Fall 2003.
Excerpt: Strauss set himself a remarkable task: the revival of Western reading, and therefore, of philosophizing. Strauss claimed that he had rediscovered “a forgotten kind of… More

Leo Strauss: An Introduction to His Thought and Intellectual Legacy

– Thomas Pangle, Leo Strauss: An Introduction to His Thought and Intellectual Legacy, The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2006.
From the publisher: Leo Strauss’s controversial writings have long exercised a profound subterranean cultural influence. Now their impact is emerging into broad daylight, where they… More

Carl Schmitt and Leo Strauss: The Hidden Dialogue

– Heinrich Meier, Carl Schmitt and Leo Strauss: The Hidden Dialogue, University of Chicago Press, 2006.
From the publisher: Carl Schmitt was the most famous and controversial defender of political theology in the twentieth century. But in his best-known work, The Concept of the Political,… More

Leo Strauss and the Theologico-Political Problem by Heinrich Meier

– Heinrich Meier, Leo Strauss and the Theologico-Political Problem, Cambridge University Press, 2006.
From the publisher: This book, by one of the most prominent interpreters of the Leo Strauss’s thought, is the first to examine the theme that Leo Strauss considered to be key to his… More

Leo Strauss and the Politics of Exile: The Making of a Political Philosopher

– Eugene R. Sheppard, Leo Strauss and the Politics of Exile: The Making of a Political Philosopher, Brandeis University Press, 2007.
From the publisher: Born in rural Hesse, Germany, Leo Strauss (1899-1973) became an active Zionist and philosopher during the tumultuous and fractious Weimar Republic. As Eugene R. Sheppard… More

Reading Leo Strauss: Politics, Philosophy, Judaism

– Steven B. Smith, Reading Leo Strauss: Politics, Philosophy, Judaism, University of Chicago Press, 2007.
From the publisher: Interest in Leo Strauss is greater now than at any time since his death, mostly because of the purported link between his thought and the political movement known as… More

Guide for the Perplexed

– Steven J. Lenzner, "Guide for the Perplexed," Claremont Review of Books, 23 August 2007.
Excerpt: In recent years, as the name of the political philosopher Leo Strauss has grown increasingly familiar, his teaching has become increasingly misunderstood. Indeed, the portrait… More

The Truth about Leo Strauss: Political Philosophy and American Democracy

– Catherine and Michael Zuckert, The Truth about Leo Strauss: Political Philosophy and American Democracy, University of Chicago Press, 2008.
From the publisher: Is Leo Strauss truly an intellectual forebear of neoconservatism and a powerful force in shaping Bush administration foreign policy? The Truth about Leo Strauss puts… More

The Cambridge Companion to Leo Strauss

– The Cambridge Companion to Leo Strauss, ed. Steven B. Smith, Cambridge University Press, 2009.
Table of Contents: 1. Introduction: Leo Strauss today by Steven B. Smith 2. Leo Strauss: the outlines of a life by Steven B. Smith 3. Leo Strauss and the theologico-political predicament… More

Leo Strauss: An Intellectual Biography

– Daniel Tanguay, Leo Strauss: An Intellectual Biography, Yale University Press, 2011.
From the publisher: Since political theorist Leo Strauss’ death in 1973, American interpreters have heatedly debated his intellectual legacy. Daniel Tanguay recovers Strauss from the… More

Straussianism

– Mark C. Henrie, "Straussianism," First Principles, 5 May 2011.
Excerpt: Straussianism is the term used to denote the research methods, common concepts, theoretical presuppositions, central questions, and pedagogic style characteristic of the large… More

Heidegger, Strauss, & the Premises of Philosophy by Richard Velkley

– Richard Velkley, Heidegger, Strauss, and the Premises of Philosophy: On Original Forgetting, University of Chicago Press, 2011.
From the publisher: In this groundbreaking work, Richard L. Velkley examines the complex philosophical relationship between Martin Heidegger and Leo Strauss. Velkley argues that both… More

Crisis of the Strauss Divided

– Harry V. Jaffa, Crisis of the Strauss Divided: Essays on Leo Strauss and Straussianism, East and West, Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, 2012.
From the publisher: “Leo Strauss (1899-1973) was the  greatest mind in political philosophy in the twentieth century, and possibly in other centuries as well. That, I am well aware, is… More

Leo Strauss’s Defense of the Philosophic Life ed. Rafael Major

– Leo Strauss's Defense of the Philosophic Life, ed. Rafael Major, University of Chicago Press, 2013.
From the publisher: Leo Strauss’s What Is Political Philosophy? addresses almost every major theme in his life’s work and is often viewed as a defense of his overall philosophic… More

The Enduring Importance of Leo Strauss by Laurence Lampert

– Laurence Lampert, The Enduring Importance of Leo Strauss, University of Chicago Press, 2013.
From the publisher: The Enduring Importance of Leo Strauss takes on the crucial task of separating what is truly important in the work of Leo Strauss from the ephemeral politics associated… More

Strauss on the Prince

– Harvey C. Mansfield, "Strauss on the Prince," The Review of Politics / Volume 75 / Special Issue 04 / Fall 2013 pp 641-665
Here is a study by Harvey Mansfield of what Leo Strauss in his marvelous book, Thoughts on Machiavelli (1958), tells us about Machiavelli’s The Prince, and how he tells it. The… More

Reorientation: Leo Strauss in the 1930s

– Martin Yaffe & Richard Ruderman eds., Reorientation: Leo Strauss in the 1930s, Palgrave: 2014.
From the publisher: Reorientation: Leo Strauss in the 1930s seeks to explain the ‘change in orientation’ that Strauss underwent during a decade of personal and political… More

Leo Strauss: Man of Peace

– Rob Howse, Leo Strauss: Man of Peace, Cambridge University Press: 2014.
The NYU law professor Rob Howse interprets Strauss through the lens of questions of war and peace.

Progressive Minds, Conservative Politics

– Aryeh Tepper, Progressive Minds, Conservative Politics: Leo Strauss's Later Writings on Maimonides, Albany: 2014.
An Israeli scholar considers Leo Strauss’s later writings on Maimonides.

Multimedia

Audio of Courses Taught by Leo Strauss

– Audio of courses taught by Leo Strauss, 1958 - 1973, provided by the Leo Strauss Center at the University of Chicago.
Courses include: Thucydides, Plato, Xenophon, Aristotle, Cicero, Vico, Grotius, Locke, Montesquieu, Rousseau, Kant, Hegel, Marx, Nietzsche,  Relativism

Leo Strauss as a Jewish Thinker

– Steven Smith, "Leo Strauss as a Jewish Thinker," Yale University, February 14, 2008.
Steven Smith of Yale University lectures on Leo Strauss as Jewish Thinker.

Leo Strauss as Teacher

– "Leo Strauss as Teacher," Conference hosted by the Leo Strauss Center at the University of Chicago, April 22-23, 2011.
Panel discussions with: Nathan Tarcov – University of Chicago Ralph Lerner – University of Chicago Victor Gourevitch – Wesleyan University Hilail Gildin – Queens… More

Leo Strauss on Liberal Education

– Nathan Tarcov, "Leo Strauss on Liberal Education" University of Chicago, 2011.
Nathan Tarcov of the University of Chicago discusses Strauss’s 1959 lecture “What is Liberal Education?”

Ancients and Moderns: Did Leo Strauss Exaggerate the Break?

– "Ancients and Moderns: Did Leo Strauss Exaggerate the Break?," A Faculty Roundtable, featuring Leo Paul de Alvarez, Jonathan Culp, Richard Dougherty, Tiffany Jones Miller, and Thomas G. West, University of Dallas, February 22, 2012.