Aristotle Archives - Leo Strauss

Books

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 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

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 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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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 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

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

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

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

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

Korrespondenz Leo Strauss – Jacob Klein

– "Korrespondenz Leo Strauss - Jacob Klein," Gesammelte Schriften: Band 3, Heinrich Meier, ed., 2008.

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.

Essays

Philosophy and Law

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

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 Abravanel’s Philosophical Tendency and Political Teaching

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

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 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

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

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

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

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

The Liberalism of Classical Political Philosophy

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?

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

Marsilius of Padua

Excerpt: As regards the principles of political philosophy, Marsilius presents himself as a strict follower of Aristotle, “the divine philosopher” or “the pagan… 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

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

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

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 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

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

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

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

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

Korrespondenz Leo Strauss – Jacob Klein

– "Korrespondenz Leo Strauss - Jacob Klein," Gesammelte Schriften: Band 3, Heinrich Meier, ed., 2008.

Ancients and Moderns: Did Leo Strauss Exaggerate the Break?

Commentary

Philosophy and Law

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

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 Abravanel’s Philosophical Tendency and Political Teaching

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

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 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

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

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

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

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

The Liberalism of Classical Political Philosophy

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?

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

Marsilius of Padua

Excerpt: As regards the principles of political philosophy, Marsilius presents himself as a strict follower of Aristotle, “the divine philosopher” or “the pagan… 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

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

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

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 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

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

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

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

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

Korrespondenz Leo Strauss – Jacob Klein

– "Korrespondenz Leo Strauss - Jacob Klein," Gesammelte Schriften: Band 3, Heinrich Meier, ed., 2008.

Ancients and Moderns: Did Leo Strauss Exaggerate the Break?

Multimedia

Philosophy and Law

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

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 Abravanel’s Philosophical Tendency and Political Teaching

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

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 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

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

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

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

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

The Liberalism of Classical Political Philosophy

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?

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

Marsilius of Padua

Excerpt: As regards the principles of political philosophy, Marsilius presents himself as a strict follower of Aristotle, “the divine philosopher” or “the pagan… 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

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

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

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 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

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

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

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

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

Korrespondenz Leo Strauss – Jacob Klein

– "Korrespondenz Leo Strauss - Jacob Klein," Gesammelte Schriften: Band 3, Heinrich Meier, ed., 2008.

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