Spinoza Archives - Leo Strauss

Books

Cohen’s Analysis of Spinoza’s Bible Science

– "Cohens Analyse der Bibel-Wissenchaft Spinozas," Der Jude, Vol. 8, No. 5-6 (May-June 1924). Reprinted in Gesammelte Schriften: Band 1. Reprinted in Leo Strauss: The Early Writings.

Excerpt: It is typical of Hermann Cohen’s style that he couches the critique of an idea in the critique of the possibly accidental expression of that idea. This is the way of our… More

On the Bible Science of Spinoza and His Precursors

– "On the Bible Science of Spinoza and His Precursors," Korrespondenzblatt des Vereins zur Grundung Erhaltung einer Akademie fur die Wissenschaft des Judentums, Vol. 7 (1926). Reprinted in Gesammelte Schriften: Band 1. Reprinted in Leo Strauss: The Early Writings.

Excerpt: Spinoza’s bible science is first of all a fact in the history of the sciences. Spinoza has the undisputed merit of having established Bible science as a science “free… More

Spinoza’s Critique of Religion

– Spinoza's Critique of Religion, trans. E. M. Sinclair, University of Chicago Press, 1997. Originally published as Die Religionskritik Spinozas als Grundlage seiner Bibelwissenschaft Untersuchungen zu Spinozas Theologisch-Politischem Traktat, Akademie-Verlag, 1930.

Excerpt from the preface to the English translation: Considerations like those sketched in the preceding paragraphs made one wonder whether an unqualified return to Jewish orthodoxy was not… More

The Testament of Spinoza

– "The Testament of Spinoza," Bayerische Israelitische Gemeindezeitung, Vol. 8, No. 21 (1 November 1932). Reprinted in Gesammelte Schriften: Band 1. Reprinted in Leo Strauss: The Early Writings.

Excerpt: Neutrality toward Spinoza set in once one was able to admit that the “modern worldview,” whose victory was decisively aided by Spinoza’s metaphysics, does not, or… More

Philosophy and Law

– Philosophy and Law: Contributions to the Understanding of Maimonides and His Predecessors, trans. Eve Adler, State University of New York Press, 1995. Originally published as Philosophie und Gesetz: Beiträge zum Verständnis Maimunis und Seiner Vorlaüfer, Schocken Verlag, 1935.

Excerpt: The latecomers, who saw that the attacks of Hobbes, Spinoza, Bayle, Voltaire, and Reimarus could not be parried by defensive measures such as Moses Mendelssohn’s, agreed,… More

Review of E. E. Powell: Spinoza and Religion

– Review of Spinoza and Religion, by E. E. Powell, Social Research, Vol. 9, No. 4 (November 1942). Reprinted in What Is Political Philosophy?

Excerpt: An adequate understanding of Spinoza’s philosophy in general and his political philosophy in particular presupposes perfect clarity about his attitude toward religion. Has… More

How to Study Spinoza’s Theologico-Political Treatise

– "How to Study Spinoza's Theologico-Political Treatise," Proceedings of the American Academy for Jewish Research, Vol. 17 (1948). Reprinted in Persecution and the Art of Writing.

Excerpt: The reason why a fresh investigation of Spinoza’s Theologico-Political Treatise’ is in order, is obvious. The chief aim of the Treatise is to refute the claims which… More

On Locke’s Doctrine of Natural Right

– "On Locke's Doctrine of Natural Right," Philosophical Review, Vol. 61, No. 4 (October 1952). Reprinted in Natural Right and History (Ch. 5B).

It is on the basis of Hobbes’s view of the law of nature that Locke opposes Hobbes’s conclusions. He tries to show that Hobbes’s principle–the right of… More

Persecution and the Art of Writing

– Persecution and the Art of Writing, The Free Press, 1952. Reprinted: University of Chicago Press, 1988.

Excerpt: Plato substituted for it a more conservative way of action, namely, the gradual replacement of the accepted opinions by the truth or an approximation to the truth. The replacement… More

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

Thoughts on Machiavelli

– Thoughts on Machiavelli, The Free Press, 1958. Reprint: University of Chicago Press, 1978.

Excerpt: We shall not shock anyone, we shall merely expose ourselves to good-natured or at any rate harmless ridicule, if we profess ourselves inclined to the old-fashioned and simple… More

On the Basis of Hobbes’s Political Philosophy

– "On the Basis of Hobbes's Political Philosophy," What Is Political Philosophy?, The Free Press, 1959. First printing of English original of "Les fondements de la philosophie politque de Hobbes," Critique, Vol. 10, No. 83 (April 1954).

Excerpt: We begin by wondering why we should study Hobbes. This question implies that we doubt whether Hobbes’s teaching is the true teaching. It implies, therefore, that our… More

Preface to the English Translation of Spinoza’s Critique of Religion

– "Preface to the English Translation," Spinoza's Critique of Religion, trans. E. M. Sinclair, Schocken Books, 1965. Reprinted in English translation of Spinoza's Critique of Religion and Liberalism Ancient and Modern.

Excerpt: It is safer to try to understand the low in the light of the high than the high in the light of the low. In doing the latter one necessarily distorts the high, whereas in doing the… More

Liberalism Ancient and Modern

– Liberalism Ancient and Modern, Basic Books, 1968. Reprint: University of Chicago Press, 1995.

Excerpt: Liberal education is education in culture or toward culture. The finished product of a liberal education is a cultured human being. “Culture” (cultura) means… More

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

Niccolo Machiavelli

– History of Political Philosophy, ed. Leo Strauss and Joseph Cropsey, Rand McNally, 1963. Second Edition: Rand McNally, 1972. Third Edition, University of Chicago Press, 1987.

Excerpt: Men often speak of virtue without using the word but saying instead “the quality of life” or “the great society” or “ethical” or even… More

Progress or Return?

– "Progress or Return? The Contemporary Crisis in Western Civilization," Modern Judaism, Vol. 1, No. 1 (May 1981). Reprinted in The Rebirth of Classical Political Rationalism.

Excerpt: The title of this lecture indicates that progress has become a problem-that it could seem as if progress has led us to the brink of an abyss, and it is therefore necessary to… More

The Rebirth of Classical Political Rationalism

– The Rebirth of Classical Political Rationalism: An Introduction to the Thought of Leo Strauss, Thomas L. Pangle, ed., University of Chicago Press, 1989.

Excerpt: Humanism is today understood in contradistinction to science, on the one hand, and to the civic art, on the other. It is thus suggested to us that the social sciences are shaped… More

Strauss before Straussianism: Reason, Revelation, and Nature

– John G. Gunnell, "Strauss before Straussianism: Reason, Revelation, and Nature," The Review of Politics, Vol. 53, No. 1 (Winter 1991).

Excerpt: Despite the impact of Leo Strauss on American political science and political theory, where, exactly, Strauss was “coming from,” in both senses of that phrase, has been… More

Leo Strauss: Between Athens and Jerusalem

– Steven B. Smith, "Leo Strauss: Between Athens and Jerusalem," The Review of Politics, Vol. 53, No. 1 (Winter 1991).

Excerpt: Harold Bloom, the Yale literary critic, once described Leo Strauss as “political philosopher and Hebraic sage.”‘ This always seemed to me unusually prescient. For… More

A Return to Classical Political Philosophy and the Understanding of the American Founding

– Christopher Bruell, "A Return to Classical Political Philosophy and the Understanding of the American Founding," The Review of Politics, Vol. 53, No. 1 (Winter 1991).

Excerpt: What is the significance for the understanding of the American Founding of Leo Strauss’s efforts toward the recovery of classical political philosophy? That this is a… More

Why We Remain Jews

– "Why We Remain Jews: Can Jewish Faith and History Still Speak to Us?" Leo Strauss: Political Philosopher and Jewish Thinker, ed. Kenneth L. Deutsch and Walter Nicgorski, Rowman and Littlefield, 1994.

Excerpt: I take more serious cases; first, the anti-Judaism of late classical antiquity, when we (and incidentally also the Christians) were accused by the pagan Romans of standing… More

Gesammelte Schriften

– Gesammelte Schriften, Bands 1-3, Heinrich Meier, ed., 1996-2008.

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: The Early Writings

– Leo Strauss: The Early Writings (1921-1932), ed. Michael Zank, State University of New York Press, 2002.

Reason and Revelation

– "Reason and Revelation," Leo Strauss and the Theologico-Political Problem, Cambridge University Press, 2006. Talk given on April 27, 1948, at Hartford Theological Seminary.

Excerpt: Today, we do not have a direct access to what philosophy originally meant. Our concept of philosophy is derived from modern philosophy, i.e. a derivative form of philosophy. Modern… More

Essays

Cohen’s Analysis of Spinoza’s Bible Science

– "Cohens Analyse der Bibel-Wissenchaft Spinozas," Der Jude, Vol. 8, No. 5-6 (May-June 1924). Reprinted in Gesammelte Schriften: Band 1. Reprinted in Leo Strauss: The Early Writings.

Excerpt: It is typical of Hermann Cohen’s style that he couches the critique of an idea in the critique of the possibly accidental expression of that idea. This is the way of our… More

On the Bible Science of Spinoza and His Precursors

Excerpt: Spinoza’s bible science is first of all a fact in the history of the sciences. Spinoza has the undisputed merit of having established Bible science as a science “free… More

Spinoza’s Critique of Religion

Excerpt from the preface to the English translation: Considerations like those sketched in the preceding paragraphs made one wonder whether an unqualified return to Jewish orthodoxy was not… More

The Testament of Spinoza

Excerpt: Neutrality toward Spinoza set in once one was able to admit that the “modern worldview,” whose victory was decisively aided by Spinoza’s metaphysics, does not, or… More

Philosophy and Law

Excerpt: The latecomers, who saw that the attacks of Hobbes, Spinoza, Bayle, Voltaire, and Reimarus could not be parried by defensive measures such as Moses Mendelssohn’s, agreed,… More

Review of E. E. Powell: Spinoza and Religion

– Review of Spinoza and Religion, by E. E. Powell, Social Research, Vol. 9, No. 4 (November 1942). Reprinted in What Is Political Philosophy?

Excerpt: An adequate understanding of Spinoza’s philosophy in general and his political philosophy in particular presupposes perfect clarity about his attitude toward religion. Has… More

How to Study Spinoza’s Theologico-Political Treatise

– "How to Study Spinoza's Theologico-Political Treatise," Proceedings of the American Academy for Jewish Research, Vol. 17 (1948). Reprinted in Persecution and the Art of Writing.

Excerpt: The reason why a fresh investigation of Spinoza’s Theologico-Political Treatise’ is in order, is obvious. The chief aim of the Treatise is to refute the claims which… More

On Locke’s Doctrine of Natural Right

– "On Locke's Doctrine of Natural Right," Philosophical Review, Vol. 61, No. 4 (October 1952). Reprinted in Natural Right and History (Ch. 5B).

It is on the basis of Hobbes’s view of the law of nature that Locke opposes Hobbes’s conclusions. He tries to show that Hobbes’s principle–the right of… More

Persecution and the Art of Writing

– Persecution and the Art of Writing, The Free Press, 1952. Reprinted: University of Chicago Press, 1988.

Excerpt: Plato substituted for it a more conservative way of action, namely, the gradual replacement of the accepted opinions by the truth or an approximation to the truth. The replacement… More

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

Thoughts on Machiavelli

– Thoughts on Machiavelli, The Free Press, 1958. Reprint: University of Chicago Press, 1978.

Excerpt: We shall not shock anyone, we shall merely expose ourselves to good-natured or at any rate harmless ridicule, if we profess ourselves inclined to the old-fashioned and simple… More

On the Basis of Hobbes’s Political Philosophy

Excerpt: We begin by wondering why we should study Hobbes. This question implies that we doubt whether Hobbes’s teaching is the true teaching. It implies, therefore, that our… More

Preface to the English Translation of Spinoza’s Critique of Religion

Excerpt: It is safer to try to understand the low in the light of the high than the high in the light of the low. In doing the latter one necessarily distorts the high, whereas in doing the… More

Liberalism Ancient and Modern

– Liberalism Ancient and Modern, Basic Books, 1968. Reprint: University of Chicago Press, 1995.

Excerpt: Liberal education is education in culture or toward culture. The finished product of a liberal education is a cultured human being. “Culture” (cultura) means… More

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

Niccolo Machiavelli

– History of Political Philosophy, ed. Leo Strauss and Joseph Cropsey, Rand McNally, 1963. Second Edition: Rand McNally, 1972. Third Edition, University of Chicago Press, 1987.

Excerpt: Men often speak of virtue without using the word but saying instead “the quality of life” or “the great society” or “ethical” or even… More

Progress or Return?

– "Progress or Return? The Contemporary Crisis in Western Civilization," Modern Judaism, Vol. 1, No. 1 (May 1981). Reprinted in The Rebirth of Classical Political Rationalism.

Excerpt: The title of this lecture indicates that progress has become a problem-that it could seem as if progress has led us to the brink of an abyss, and it is therefore necessary to… More

The Rebirth of Classical Political Rationalism

– The Rebirth of Classical Political Rationalism: An Introduction to the Thought of Leo Strauss, Thomas L. Pangle, ed., University of Chicago Press, 1989.

Excerpt: Humanism is today understood in contradistinction to science, on the one hand, and to the civic art, on the other. It is thus suggested to us that the social sciences are shaped… More

Strauss before Straussianism: Reason, Revelation, and Nature

– John G. Gunnell, "Strauss before Straussianism: Reason, Revelation, and Nature," The Review of Politics, Vol. 53, No. 1 (Winter 1991).

Excerpt: Despite the impact of Leo Strauss on American political science and political theory, where, exactly, Strauss was “coming from,” in both senses of that phrase, has been… More

Leo Strauss: Between Athens and Jerusalem

– Steven B. Smith, "Leo Strauss: Between Athens and Jerusalem," The Review of Politics, Vol. 53, No. 1 (Winter 1991).

Excerpt: Harold Bloom, the Yale literary critic, once described Leo Strauss as “political philosopher and Hebraic sage.”‘ This always seemed to me unusually prescient. For… More

A Return to Classical Political Philosophy and the Understanding of the American Founding

– Christopher Bruell, "A Return to Classical Political Philosophy and the Understanding of the American Founding," The Review of Politics, Vol. 53, No. 1 (Winter 1991).

Excerpt: What is the significance for the understanding of the American Founding of Leo Strauss’s efforts toward the recovery of classical political philosophy? That this is a… More

Why We Remain Jews

Excerpt: I take more serious cases; first, the anti-Judaism of late classical antiquity, when we (and incidentally also the Christians) were accused by the pagan Romans of standing… More

Gesammelte Schriften

– Gesammelte Schriften, Bands 1-3, Heinrich Meier, ed., 1996-2008.

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: The Early Writings

– Leo Strauss: The Early Writings (1921-1932), ed. Michael Zank, State University of New York Press, 2002.

Reason and Revelation

– "Reason and Revelation," Leo Strauss and the Theologico-Political Problem, Cambridge University Press, 2006. Talk given on April 27, 1948, at Hartford Theological Seminary.

Excerpt: Today, we do not have a direct access to what philosophy originally meant. Our concept of philosophy is derived from modern philosophy, i.e. a derivative form of philosophy. Modern… More

Commentary

Cohen’s Analysis of Spinoza’s Bible Science

– "Cohens Analyse der Bibel-Wissenchaft Spinozas," Der Jude, Vol. 8, No. 5-6 (May-June 1924). Reprinted in Gesammelte Schriften: Band 1. Reprinted in Leo Strauss: The Early Writings.

Excerpt: It is typical of Hermann Cohen’s style that he couches the critique of an idea in the critique of the possibly accidental expression of that idea. This is the way of our… More

On the Bible Science of Spinoza and His Precursors

Excerpt: Spinoza’s bible science is first of all a fact in the history of the sciences. Spinoza has the undisputed merit of having established Bible science as a science “free… More

Spinoza’s Critique of Religion

Excerpt from the preface to the English translation: Considerations like those sketched in the preceding paragraphs made one wonder whether an unqualified return to Jewish orthodoxy was not… More

The Testament of Spinoza

Excerpt: Neutrality toward Spinoza set in once one was able to admit that the “modern worldview,” whose victory was decisively aided by Spinoza’s metaphysics, does not, or… More

Philosophy and Law

Excerpt: The latecomers, who saw that the attacks of Hobbes, Spinoza, Bayle, Voltaire, and Reimarus could not be parried by defensive measures such as Moses Mendelssohn’s, agreed,… More

Review of E. E. Powell: Spinoza and Religion

– Review of Spinoza and Religion, by E. E. Powell, Social Research, Vol. 9, No. 4 (November 1942). Reprinted in What Is Political Philosophy?

Excerpt: An adequate understanding of Spinoza’s philosophy in general and his political philosophy in particular presupposes perfect clarity about his attitude toward religion. Has… More

How to Study Spinoza’s Theologico-Political Treatise

– "How to Study Spinoza's Theologico-Political Treatise," Proceedings of the American Academy for Jewish Research, Vol. 17 (1948). Reprinted in Persecution and the Art of Writing.

Excerpt: The reason why a fresh investigation of Spinoza’s Theologico-Political Treatise’ is in order, is obvious. The chief aim of the Treatise is to refute the claims which… More

On Locke’s Doctrine of Natural Right

– "On Locke's Doctrine of Natural Right," Philosophical Review, Vol. 61, No. 4 (October 1952). Reprinted in Natural Right and History (Ch. 5B).

It is on the basis of Hobbes’s view of the law of nature that Locke opposes Hobbes’s conclusions. He tries to show that Hobbes’s principle–the right of… More

Persecution and the Art of Writing

– Persecution and the Art of Writing, The Free Press, 1952. Reprinted: University of Chicago Press, 1988.

Excerpt: Plato substituted for it a more conservative way of action, namely, the gradual replacement of the accepted opinions by the truth or an approximation to the truth. The replacement… More

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

Thoughts on Machiavelli

– Thoughts on Machiavelli, The Free Press, 1958. Reprint: University of Chicago Press, 1978.

Excerpt: We shall not shock anyone, we shall merely expose ourselves to good-natured or at any rate harmless ridicule, if we profess ourselves inclined to the old-fashioned and simple… More

On the Basis of Hobbes’s Political Philosophy

Excerpt: We begin by wondering why we should study Hobbes. This question implies that we doubt whether Hobbes’s teaching is the true teaching. It implies, therefore, that our… More

Preface to the English Translation of Spinoza’s Critique of Religion

Excerpt: It is safer to try to understand the low in the light of the high than the high in the light of the low. In doing the latter one necessarily distorts the high, whereas in doing the… More

Liberalism Ancient and Modern

– Liberalism Ancient and Modern, Basic Books, 1968. Reprint: University of Chicago Press, 1995.

Excerpt: Liberal education is education in culture or toward culture. The finished product of a liberal education is a cultured human being. “Culture” (cultura) means… More

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

Niccolo Machiavelli

– History of Political Philosophy, ed. Leo Strauss and Joseph Cropsey, Rand McNally, 1963. Second Edition: Rand McNally, 1972. Third Edition, University of Chicago Press, 1987.

Excerpt: Men often speak of virtue without using the word but saying instead “the quality of life” or “the great society” or “ethical” or even… More

Progress or Return?

– "Progress or Return? The Contemporary Crisis in Western Civilization," Modern Judaism, Vol. 1, No. 1 (May 1981). Reprinted in The Rebirth of Classical Political Rationalism.

Excerpt: The title of this lecture indicates that progress has become a problem-that it could seem as if progress has led us to the brink of an abyss, and it is therefore necessary to… More

The Rebirth of Classical Political Rationalism

– The Rebirth of Classical Political Rationalism: An Introduction to the Thought of Leo Strauss, Thomas L. Pangle, ed., University of Chicago Press, 1989.

Excerpt: Humanism is today understood in contradistinction to science, on the one hand, and to the civic art, on the other. It is thus suggested to us that the social sciences are shaped… More

Strauss before Straussianism: Reason, Revelation, and Nature

– John G. Gunnell, "Strauss before Straussianism: Reason, Revelation, and Nature," The Review of Politics, Vol. 53, No. 1 (Winter 1991).

Excerpt: Despite the impact of Leo Strauss on American political science and political theory, where, exactly, Strauss was “coming from,” in both senses of that phrase, has been… More

Leo Strauss: Between Athens and Jerusalem

– Steven B. Smith, "Leo Strauss: Between Athens and Jerusalem," The Review of Politics, Vol. 53, No. 1 (Winter 1991).

Excerpt: Harold Bloom, the Yale literary critic, once described Leo Strauss as “political philosopher and Hebraic sage.”‘ This always seemed to me unusually prescient. For… More

A Return to Classical Political Philosophy and the Understanding of the American Founding

– Christopher Bruell, "A Return to Classical Political Philosophy and the Understanding of the American Founding," The Review of Politics, Vol. 53, No. 1 (Winter 1991).

Excerpt: What is the significance for the understanding of the American Founding of Leo Strauss’s efforts toward the recovery of classical political philosophy? That this is a… More

Why We Remain Jews

Excerpt: I take more serious cases; first, the anti-Judaism of late classical antiquity, when we (and incidentally also the Christians) were accused by the pagan Romans of standing… More

Gesammelte Schriften

– Gesammelte Schriften, Bands 1-3, Heinrich Meier, ed., 1996-2008.

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: The Early Writings

– Leo Strauss: The Early Writings (1921-1932), ed. Michael Zank, State University of New York Press, 2002.

Reason and Revelation

– "Reason and Revelation," Leo Strauss and the Theologico-Political Problem, Cambridge University Press, 2006. Talk given on April 27, 1948, at Hartford Theological Seminary.

Excerpt: Today, we do not have a direct access to what philosophy originally meant. Our concept of philosophy is derived from modern philosophy, i.e. a derivative form of philosophy. Modern… More

Multimedia

Cohen’s Analysis of Spinoza’s Bible Science

– "Cohens Analyse der Bibel-Wissenchaft Spinozas," Der Jude, Vol. 8, No. 5-6 (May-June 1924). Reprinted in Gesammelte Schriften: Band 1. Reprinted in Leo Strauss: The Early Writings.

Excerpt: It is typical of Hermann Cohen’s style that he couches the critique of an idea in the critique of the possibly accidental expression of that idea. This is the way of our… More

On the Bible Science of Spinoza and His Precursors

Excerpt: Spinoza’s bible science is first of all a fact in the history of the sciences. Spinoza has the undisputed merit of having established Bible science as a science “free… More

Spinoza’s Critique of Religion

Excerpt from the preface to the English translation: Considerations like those sketched in the preceding paragraphs made one wonder whether an unqualified return to Jewish orthodoxy was not… More

The Testament of Spinoza

Excerpt: Neutrality toward Spinoza set in once one was able to admit that the “modern worldview,” whose victory was decisively aided by Spinoza’s metaphysics, does not, or… More

Philosophy and Law

Excerpt: The latecomers, who saw that the attacks of Hobbes, Spinoza, Bayle, Voltaire, and Reimarus could not be parried by defensive measures such as Moses Mendelssohn’s, agreed,… More

Review of E. E. Powell: Spinoza and Religion

– Review of Spinoza and Religion, by E. E. Powell, Social Research, Vol. 9, No. 4 (November 1942). Reprinted in What Is Political Philosophy?

Excerpt: An adequate understanding of Spinoza’s philosophy in general and his political philosophy in particular presupposes perfect clarity about his attitude toward religion. Has… More

How to Study Spinoza’s Theologico-Political Treatise

– "How to Study Spinoza's Theologico-Political Treatise," Proceedings of the American Academy for Jewish Research, Vol. 17 (1948). Reprinted in Persecution and the Art of Writing.

Excerpt: The reason why a fresh investigation of Spinoza’s Theologico-Political Treatise’ is in order, is obvious. The chief aim of the Treatise is to refute the claims which… More

On Locke’s Doctrine of Natural Right

– "On Locke's Doctrine of Natural Right," Philosophical Review, Vol. 61, No. 4 (October 1952). Reprinted in Natural Right and History (Ch. 5B).

It is on the basis of Hobbes’s view of the law of nature that Locke opposes Hobbes’s conclusions. He tries to show that Hobbes’s principle–the right of… More

Persecution and the Art of Writing

– Persecution and the Art of Writing, The Free Press, 1952. Reprinted: University of Chicago Press, 1988.

Excerpt: Plato substituted for it a more conservative way of action, namely, the gradual replacement of the accepted opinions by the truth or an approximation to the truth. The replacement… More

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

Thoughts on Machiavelli

– Thoughts on Machiavelli, The Free Press, 1958. Reprint: University of Chicago Press, 1978.

Excerpt: We shall not shock anyone, we shall merely expose ourselves to good-natured or at any rate harmless ridicule, if we profess ourselves inclined to the old-fashioned and simple… More

On the Basis of Hobbes’s Political Philosophy

Excerpt: We begin by wondering why we should study Hobbes. This question implies that we doubt whether Hobbes’s teaching is the true teaching. It implies, therefore, that our… More

Preface to the English Translation of Spinoza’s Critique of Religion

Excerpt: It is safer to try to understand the low in the light of the high than the high in the light of the low. In doing the latter one necessarily distorts the high, whereas in doing the… More

Liberalism Ancient and Modern

– Liberalism Ancient and Modern, Basic Books, 1968. Reprint: University of Chicago Press, 1995.

Excerpt: Liberal education is education in culture or toward culture. The finished product of a liberal education is a cultured human being. “Culture” (cultura) means… More

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

Niccolo Machiavelli

– History of Political Philosophy, ed. Leo Strauss and Joseph Cropsey, Rand McNally, 1963. Second Edition: Rand McNally, 1972. Third Edition, University of Chicago Press, 1987.

Excerpt: Men often speak of virtue without using the word but saying instead “the quality of life” or “the great society” or “ethical” or even… More

Progress or Return?

– "Progress or Return? The Contemporary Crisis in Western Civilization," Modern Judaism, Vol. 1, No. 1 (May 1981). Reprinted in The Rebirth of Classical Political Rationalism.

Excerpt: The title of this lecture indicates that progress has become a problem-that it could seem as if progress has led us to the brink of an abyss, and it is therefore necessary to… More

The Rebirth of Classical Political Rationalism

– The Rebirth of Classical Political Rationalism: An Introduction to the Thought of Leo Strauss, Thomas L. Pangle, ed., University of Chicago Press, 1989.

Excerpt: Humanism is today understood in contradistinction to science, on the one hand, and to the civic art, on the other. It is thus suggested to us that the social sciences are shaped… More

Strauss before Straussianism: Reason, Revelation, and Nature

– John G. Gunnell, "Strauss before Straussianism: Reason, Revelation, and Nature," The Review of Politics, Vol. 53, No. 1 (Winter 1991).

Excerpt: Despite the impact of Leo Strauss on American political science and political theory, where, exactly, Strauss was “coming from,” in both senses of that phrase, has been… More

Leo Strauss: Between Athens and Jerusalem

– Steven B. Smith, "Leo Strauss: Between Athens and Jerusalem," The Review of Politics, Vol. 53, No. 1 (Winter 1991).

Excerpt: Harold Bloom, the Yale literary critic, once described Leo Strauss as “political philosopher and Hebraic sage.”‘ This always seemed to me unusually prescient. For… More

A Return to Classical Political Philosophy and the Understanding of the American Founding

– Christopher Bruell, "A Return to Classical Political Philosophy and the Understanding of the American Founding," The Review of Politics, Vol. 53, No. 1 (Winter 1991).

Excerpt: What is the significance for the understanding of the American Founding of Leo Strauss’s efforts toward the recovery of classical political philosophy? That this is a… More

Why We Remain Jews

Excerpt: I take more serious cases; first, the anti-Judaism of late classical antiquity, when we (and incidentally also the Christians) were accused by the pagan Romans of standing… More

Gesammelte Schriften

– Gesammelte Schriften, Bands 1-3, Heinrich Meier, ed., 1996-2008.

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: The Early Writings

– Leo Strauss: The Early Writings (1921-1932), ed. Michael Zank, State University of New York Press, 2002.

Reason and Revelation

– "Reason and Revelation," Leo Strauss and the Theologico-Political Problem, Cambridge University Press, 2006. Talk given on April 27, 1948, at Hartford Theological Seminary.

Excerpt: Today, we do not have a direct access to what philosophy originally meant. Our concept of philosophy is derived from modern philosophy, i.e. a derivative form of philosophy. Modern… More

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