Leo Strauss

Leo Strauss’s lifelong intellectual mission was to recover ‘classical rationalism’, a pursuit that has made him a controversial figure to this day. While his critics see him as responsible for a troubling anti-democratic strain in modern politics, others argue that his thought is in fact the best defence of responsible democracy.

Neil Robertson’s new introduction to Strauss aims to transcend these divides and present a non-partisan account of his thought. He shows how Strauss’ intellectual formation in Weimar Germany and flight from Nazism led him to develop a critique of modernity that tended to support a conservative politics, while embracing a radical sense of what philosophy is and can be. He examines the way in which Strauss built upon the thought of Nietzsche and Heidegger in order to show how their 'nihilism' led not to a standpoint beyond western rationality, but to a recovery of its roots.

This skillful reconstruction of the coherence and unity of Strauss’ thought is the essential guide for anyone wishing to fully grasp the contribution of one of the most contentious and intriguing figures in 20th century intellectual history.

Acknowledgements

Abbreviations of Works by Strauss

Introduction

Chapter 1 Recovering Natural Right in the Weimar Republic

Chapter 2 The Theological-Political Problem

Chapter 3 Esoteric Writing and Political Philosophy

Chapter 4 Recovering Classical Political Philosophy

Chapter 5 The Critique of Modernity

Chapter 6 Strauss, the Straussians, and America

Conclusion

Further Reading

Works Cited

“I enjoyed reading this book from beginning to end. I was impressed with the author’s mastery of the entire Straussian corpus from his books and articles to his unpublished lectures and correspondence. Robertson’s claim that we should take Strauss seriously not merely as an interpreter of texts but as a first-order political philosopher seems to me fully warranted.”
Steven B. Smith, Yale University

“This book stands out in the literature on Strauss. It has a connected narrative about Leo Strauss’s thought, and a sure-footed grasp of his thinking. It is not given to tendentious theories about Strauss. Perhaps above all I am struck by the good sense and balance of Robertson’s judgments and interpretations.”
Michael Zuckert, University of Notre Dame

Neil Robertson is Associate Professor of Humanities at the University of King’s College, Halifax.