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Leo Strauss (September 20, 1899 - October 18, 1973), the political philosopher, was born in Kirchhain (near Marburg), Hessen, Germany, to Hugo Strauss and Jennie David, and was raised in an Orthodox Jewish home. At the age of 17 he became a political Zionist. Strauss received his higher education within the German university system, notably at Marburg, Hamburg, Giessen, and Berlin. He was influenced by the work of Martin Heidegger, Max Weber, and Thomas Hobbes.

In 1932, Strauss married Marie Bernsohn in Paris, France. In 1934 he moved to England where, in 1935, he accepted a position at the Cambridge University. In 1937, Strauss moved to the United States where he became a Research Fellow in the Department of History at Columbia University. Between 1938 and 1948, he lectured in political science at the New School for Social Research. In 1944, he became a US citizen and from 1949 until 1973, Strauss served as a member of the faculty of the University of Chicago, chiefly as a professor of political philosophy.

In Saul Bellow's quasi-biographical novel Ravelstein, the minor character Davarr is reputed to have been based on Strauss, while the central character of Ravelstein is said to represent Strauss' protegé Allan Bloom.

Philosophy

Straussianism, as Strauss's philosophy has come to be called, is predicated on the belief that 20th century relativism, scientism, historicism, and nihilism has been responsible for the deterioration of modern society. Some Straussians believe that "universal principles of right" exist and are knowable through careful study of those philosophers who believed in such principles, especially Plato and Aristotle. They reject the modern tendency to interpret the ancient philosophers within the context of the era in which they lived, believing that universal principles transcend historicity. However, it is unwise to characterize Straussians, because, they are not unanimous in their interpretation of their mentor's ideas; in a curious "catch-22", Strauss' own ideas are subject (under Strauss' own doctrine) to both an exoteric, and an esoteric interpretation.

Strauss taught that the texts of truly "great" philosophers contained both an esoteric and an exoteric level and that the esoteric component was accessible only to those readers willing to carefully analyze and resolve subtle, inherent contradictions within the text. Machiavelli and Plato he believed, were such philosophers.

Political Straussians

Among Strauss's better known protégés are Allan Bloom and Francis Fukuyama. Straussianism has been supported and extended to the modern political arena by U.S. neoconservatives, notably Michael Ledeen and Paul Wolfowitz, who pursued his Doctorate in political science at the University of Chicago during Strauss's tenure there.

Criticism of Straussianism

In April of 2003, a report, entitled Children of Satan, was issued by the presidential campaign of Democratic pre-candidate Lyndon LaRouche. It provided evidence that a tightly-knit grouping of professed Straussians, which included Wolfowitz, William Kristol, Abram Shulsky, Gary Schmitt (executive director of the Project for the New American Century), and others, had succeeded in gaining hegemonic control of policy in the administration of President George W. Bush. LaRouche characterized Strauss as a "Nazi philosopher," citing his close personal and political relationship to Nazi "Crown Jurist" Carl Schmitt, although nowhere in his writings does Strauss state that he was a follower of Carl Schmitt. LaRouche charged that this grouping had pursued a policy of deception and disinformation, particularly through the creation of the Pentagon Office of Special Plans, which had lured the United States into a misbegotten doctrine of preventive war, particularly in Iraq.

Within a month of the appearance of Children of Satan, similar exposés appeared in the New York Times, the New Yorker, and other publications, followed by a series of rebuttals in the Wall Street Journal.

Quotes

• "'All there is to thinking is seeing something noticeable, which makes you see something you weren't noticing, which makes you see something that isn't even visible.'" - Seth Benardete on esotericism.

Bibliography

• ''The Political Philosophy of Hobbes: Its Basis and Genesis''
• ''On Tyranny: An Interpretation of Xenophon's Hiero''
• ''Persecution and the Art of Writing''
• ''Natural Right and History''
• ''Thoughts on Machiavelli''
• ''What is Political Philosophy?''
• ''History of Political Philosophy'', co-editor
• ''The City and Man''
• ''Socrates and Aristophanes''
• ''Liberalism Ancient and Modern''
• ''Xenophon's Socratic Discourse: An Interpretation of the "Oeconomicus"''
• ''Xenophon's Socrates''
• ''The Argument and the Action of Plato's Laws''
• ''Studies in Platonic Political Philosophy''
• ''Philosophy and Law''

External links

• Leo Strauss biography
• Economist article on Leo Strauss' influence on members of the Bush administration
• The Secret Kingdom of Leo Strauss
• Straussian newsblog, message board, and book reviews
• The Closing of the Early Modern Mind: Leo Strauss and Early Modern Political Thought
• Leo Strauss' Platonism
• A Leo Straussian Conspiracy

References

• Ted V. McAllister. 1996. "Revolt Against Modernity : Leo Strauss, Eric Voegelin & the Search for Postliberal Order". Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas.
• Leo Strauss. 1958. "Thoughts on Machiavelli". Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.