The Rebirth of Classical Political Rationalism : An Introduction to the Thought of Leo Strauss

Rating:
Summary: Introducing Leo Strauss
Review: It is with no small reluctance that I write a review of a book "by" Leo Strauss. It seems that almost everyone today already has an opinion about Strauss, and I usually prefer to stay out of these perfervid, and perfervidly comical, professorial debates. However, precisely in such a climate, readers new to Strauss ought to have a guide whose sole intention is to help them make up their own minds about Strauss' worth without prejudging the entire issue.

RCPR is a compilation of essays written and lectures given by Strauss. Strauss did not select the current pieces, he did not arrange them, he did not edit them. As the editor says, "this book is not a book intended by Strauss." As such, it cannot be said to reveal Strauss' thought the way he would have revealed it. However, with those caveats in mind, I believe that no other book is a better introduction to Strauss' thought. RCPR touches upon all of Strauss' major concerns, including the 3 quarrels that dominate his thinking: the quarrel b/t ancients and moderns, between poetry and philosophy, and b/t revelation and philosophy. It also includes a discussion of esotericism, which has made him notorious to some and demonic (in the pagan sense) to others.

RCPR is divided into three parts; the central part culminates in discussions of Thucydides and Socrates. In these two chapters, one can find certain formulations that, I believe, are more direct and to the point than formulations found anywhere else in the Straussian corpus. For example, while discussing Socrates, Strauss says, "The discovery of noetic heterogeneity permits one to let things be what they are" (p.142). Strauss discusses noetic heterogeneity in many places, but I believe nowhere else does he make quite so clear his Husserlian conception of the Socratic question, the question of the eidos of a thing. That such accessible formulations occur, and that these lectures are not otherwise avaliable in published form, testifies to the value of this book.

To sum up: this is the best introduction to Strauss' thought available, but one must keep in mind that as an introduction, it does not present the whole of Strauss' thought. In particular, it does not readily reveal the depths of Strauss' thought. Those depths are revealed only when this book is read in light of Strauss' other books. Whether those depths lead to an abyss is a question that the reader will have to eventually confront.

Rating:
Summary: Introducing Leo Strauss
Review: It is with no small reluctance that I write a review of a book "by" Leo Strauss. It seems that almost everyone today already has an opinion about Strauss, and I usually prefer to stay out of these perfervid, and perfervidly comical, professorial debates. However, precisely in such a climate, readers new to Strauss ought to have a guide whose sole intention is to help them make up their own minds about Strauss' worth without prejudging the entire issue.

RCPR is a compilation of essays written and lectures given by Strauss. Strauss did not select the current pieces, he did not arrange them, he did not edit them. As the editor says, "this book is not a book intended by Strauss." As such, it cannot be said to reveal Strauss' thought the way he would have revealed it. However, with those caveats in mind, I believe that no other book is a better introduction to Strauss' thought. RCPR touches upon all of Strauss' major concerns, including the 3 quarrels that dominate his thinking: the quarrel b/t ancients and moderns, between poetry and philosophy, and b/t revelation and philosophy. It also includes a discussion of esotericism, which has made him notorious to some and demonic (in the pagan sense) to others.

RCPR is divided into three parts; the central part culminates in discussions of Thucydides and Socrates. In these two chapters, one can find certain formulations that, I believe, are more direct and to the point than formulations found anywhere else in the Straussian corpus. For example, while discussing Socrates, Strauss says, "The discovery of noetic heterogeneity permits one to let things be what they are" (p.142). Strauss discusses noetic heterogeneity in many places, but I believe nowhere else does he make quite so clear his Husserlian conception of the Socratic question, the question of the eidos of a thing. That such accessible formulations occur, and that these lectures are not otherwise avaliable in published form, testifies to the value of this book.

To sum up: this is the best introduction to Strauss' thought available, but one must keep in mind that as an introduction, it does not present the whole of Strauss' thought. In particular, it does not readily reveal the depths of Strauss' thought. Those depths are revealed only when this book is read in light of Strauss' other books. Whether those depths lead to an abyss is a question that the reader will have to eventually confront.

Rating:
Summary: see the light
Review: this book is increadible...Strauss is a genius. This book is amazing becuase it discloses a small amount of evidence of esoteric meanings hidden in ancient philosophy. Of course Strauss is not the first author to mention this (another good refrence is Morals and Dogma, Albert Pike) but Strauss also gives away a few clues on how to decypher the ancient texts. This book is a must read and own for any one who wants to see beyond the conventional, exoteric side of philosophy. I highly recomend it to any freemason or initiate of a mystery school. Or at least any one intrested in learning more about esoteric ideas transmitted through ancient philosophy, drama, and poetry. Simply Amazing!