Tag: Philosophy and the City

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Books

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

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

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

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 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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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 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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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 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

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

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

Essays

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

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

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

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 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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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 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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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 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

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

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

Commentary

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

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

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

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 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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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 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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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 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

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

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

Multimedia

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

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

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

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 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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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 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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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 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

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

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

Teaching

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

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

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

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 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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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 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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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 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

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

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