Tag: Social Science

Books

Franz Rosenzweig and the Academy for the Science of Judaism

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

On Classical Political Philosophy

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

Review of Leonardo Olschki: Machiavelli the Scientist

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

The Social Science of Max Weber

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

Social Science and Humanism

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

What Is Political Philosophy?

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

Restatement on Xenophon’s Hiero

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

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

An Epilogue

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

Replies to Schaar and Wolin

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

Introduction to History of Political Philosophy

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

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

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

Two Letters to Eric Voegelin

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

Leo Strauss: An Introduction to His Thought and Intellectual Legacy

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

What Can We Learn from Political Theory?

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

Restatement

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

The Cambridge Companion to Leo Strauss

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

Leo Strauss as Teacher

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

Essays

Franz Rosenzweig and the Academy for the Science of Judaism

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

On Classical Political Philosophy

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

Review of Leonardo Olschki: Machiavelli the Scientist

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

The Social Science of Max Weber

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

Social Science and Humanism

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

What Is Political Philosophy?

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

Restatement on Xenophon’s Hiero

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

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

An Epilogue

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

Replies to Schaar and Wolin

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

Introduction to History of Political Philosophy

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

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

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

Two Letters to Eric Voegelin

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

Leo Strauss: An Introduction to His Thought and Intellectual Legacy

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

What Can We Learn from Political Theory?

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

Restatement

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

The Cambridge Companion to Leo Strauss

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

Leo Strauss as Teacher

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

Commentary

Franz Rosenzweig and the Academy for the Science of Judaism

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

On Classical Political Philosophy

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

Review of Leonardo Olschki: Machiavelli the Scientist

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

The Social Science of Max Weber

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

Social Science and Humanism

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

What Is Political Philosophy?

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

Restatement on Xenophon’s Hiero

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

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

An Epilogue

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

Replies to Schaar and Wolin

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

Introduction to History of Political Philosophy

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

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

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

Two Letters to Eric Voegelin

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

Leo Strauss: An Introduction to His Thought and Intellectual Legacy

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

What Can We Learn from Political Theory?

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

Restatement

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

The Cambridge Companion to Leo Strauss

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

Leo Strauss as Teacher

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

Multimedia

Franz Rosenzweig and the Academy for the Science of Judaism

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

On Classical Political Philosophy

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

Review of Leonardo Olschki: Machiavelli the Scientist

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

The Social Science of Max Weber

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

Social Science and Humanism

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

What Is Political Philosophy?

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

Restatement on Xenophon’s Hiero

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

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

An Epilogue

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

Replies to Schaar and Wolin

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

Introduction to History of Political Philosophy

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

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

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

Two Letters to Eric Voegelin

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

Leo Strauss: An Introduction to His Thought and Intellectual Legacy

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

What Can We Learn from Political Theory?

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

Restatement

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

The Cambridge Companion to Leo Strauss

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

Leo Strauss as Teacher

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

Teaching

Franz Rosenzweig and the Academy for the Science of Judaism

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

On Classical Political Philosophy

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

Review of Leonardo Olschki: Machiavelli the Scientist

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

The Social Science of Max Weber

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

Social Science and Humanism

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

What Is Political Philosophy?

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

Restatement on Xenophon’s Hiero

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

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

An Epilogue

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

Replies to Schaar and Wolin

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

Introduction to History of Political Philosophy

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

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

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

Two Letters to Eric Voegelin

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

Leo Strauss: An Introduction to His Thought and Intellectual Legacy

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

What Can We Learn from Political Theory?

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

Restatement

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

The Cambridge Companion to Leo Strauss

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

Leo Strauss as Teacher

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