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Leo Strauss



         


Leo Strauss (September 20, 1899 - October 18, 1973), the political philosopher, was born in Kirchhain (near Marburg), Hesse, Germany, to Hugo Strauss and Jennie David. At the age of 17, when a student at the famous Gymnasium Philippinum (from which also Johannes Althusius and Carl J. Friedrich graduated), he became a political Zionist, although this - as well as his religious beliefs - changed frequently during his youth and early adulthood. Strauss received his higher education within the German university system, notably at Marburg, Freiburg, and Hamburg, where he took his PhD under Ernst Cassirer. He was directly influenced by the work of Martin Heidegger and Carl Schmitt, as well as indirectly by 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. His primary influence in academia remains confined to political science departments.

In Saul Bellow's quasi-biographical novel Ravelstein, the minor character Davarr is based on Strauss, while the central character of Ravelstein represents Strauss' protegé Allan Bloom.

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Philosophy

Straussianism, as Strauss's philosophy has come to be called, is predicated on the belief that 20th century relativism, scientism, historicism, and nihilism have been responsible for the deterioration of modern society and philosophy. 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 difficult to make a general characterization of Straussians because they are not unanimous in their interpretation of the creed; in a curious "catch-22", Strauss' own ideas are subject (under Strauss' own doctrine) to both an exoteric, and an esoteric interpretation. This is why there are marked disagreements over Strauss' doctrine, even among leading Straussians (such as between Thomas Pangle and Harry Jaffa). For Straussians such as Pangle, who learned the "esoteric" version of Strauss, Strauss' ideas are rather similar to those of Friedrich Nietzsche (see published commentary on Strauss by Machiavelli and Plato he believed, were such philosophers.

Straussianism is generally divided into two schools: The East-coast and West-coast (the East-coast being represented by the late Allan Bloom and the West-coast by Harry Jaffa).

Among Strauss's better known protégés are Allan Bloom, Harry Jaffa and George Anastaplo; Bloom's student Francis Fukuyama, author of The End of History and the Last Man, a "meditation on the debate between Strauss and Alexandre Kojève", is also prominent.

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Political Straussians

Straussianism has been supported and extended to the modern political arena by some U.S. neoconservatives and conservatives, to the disapproval of many Straussians. Although it is true that Paul Wolfowitz pursued his Doctorate in political science at the University of Chicago during Strauss's tenure there, he has repeatedly said that it was mathematician and Cold War strategist Albert Wohlstetter who has influenced his foreign policy.

Strauss himself would have disagreed that a philosopher could "change the world" through politics. For Strauss, the philosopher's wisdom was always incomplete, and any attempt to make the world a better place was bound to end in disappointment. The examples of Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia were used by Strauss to illustrate the failures of philosophers who were convinced that they had absolute wisdom and tried to influence the world through politics.

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Criticism


Strauss has been criticised for his influence on the modern neo-conservative movement, particularly for his justification of Machiavellian concepts such as the inability of the general public to understand the truth and thus the necessity to lie for reasons of expediency. "Straussians" include Wolfowitz, William Kristol, Abram Shulsky, Gary Schmitt (executive director of the Project for the New American Century), and others. The first widely-distributed exposé of Straussianism that was critical of its influence on the Bush White House was Shadia Drury's Leo Strauss and the American Right which was originally published in 1999 and re-released in 2001 in a new edition that highlighted the prominent Straussians in the Bush Administration.

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Quotes

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