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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 14 May 2007
Leo Strauss: An Introduction to His Thought and Intellectual Legacy. By Thomas Pangle. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2006. 200p. $45.00 cloth, $19.95 paper.
Reading Leo Strauss: Politics, Philosophy, Judaism. By Steven B. Smith. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2006. 268p. $32.50 cloth, $18.00 paper.
The Truth about Leo Strauss: Political Philosophy and American Democracy. By Catherine and Michael Zuckert. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2006. 320p. $32.50.
I think that the biggest obstacle standing in the way of non-Straussians who wish to approach the work of Leo Strauss and render justice to his quite remarkable achievement is comprised of his followers and disciples, especially those who claim to derive their inspiration from him for their intellectual work in public policy or their active involvement in its administration. Almost all of them are unmistakably conservative, indeed, sometimes reactionary; typically hawkish and empire-minded in foreign affairs; and generally disposed to discipline the waywardness of the masses. I must emphasize that the obstacle I have in mind is not posed by Straussians who work in political theory; from them, non-Straussians will often learn or at least gain the benefits of a bracing encounter. The talent of Strauss is not polemical, despite his numerous comments on his times. We non-Straussians should minimize these comments so that we may separate Strauss from his sympathizers who figure in public life, whether in office or behind the scenes or in the public press. To be sure, thinkers bear some responsibility for what their devoted activist admirers make of them. But Strauss is vastly more than his topicality; and his value will survive the accidents of politics that have permitted a few to write about public affairs and act in public life under his direct or indirect tutelage.