Tag: Nietzsche

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Books

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Correspondence

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Essays

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Correspondence

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Commentary

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Correspondence

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Multimedia

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Correspondence

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Teaching

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Correspondence

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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