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Strauss Before Straussianism: Reason, Revelation, and Nature

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 August 2009

John G. Gunnell
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Extract

Despite the impact of Leo Strauss on American political science and political theory, where, exactly, Strauss was “coming from,” in both senses of that phrase, has been far from clear. Carl Friedrich, reviewing the, at that point, unknown author's book on Hobbes, noted that Strauss might have been more forthcoming about his own position, but he believed that it was safe to conclude that he was a “historical relativist.” Friedrich may have been closer to the mark than many subsequent commentators realized, but in order to understand Strauss's work, it is necessary to return to the universe he inhabited before “coming to America.” Since Strauss's death, his enterprise has been subject to careful scrutiny, but his early life and work have remained opaque.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Review of Politics , Volume 53 , Issue 1 , Winter 1991 , pp. 53 - 74
Copyright
Copyright © University of Notre Dame 1991

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References

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This essay is the final version of a long paper originally presented at a symposium on Leo Strauss sponsored by the Institute of Human Values at the annual conference of the Canadian Learned Societies, Laval, Quebec City, June 1989. The proceedings of the symposium were printed in the first issue of The Vital Nexus, May 1990. Two subsequent revisions were the basis of presentations at the University of Chicago (November 1989) and Princeton University (April 1990). Although the focus, argument, length, and content have been substantially transformed, I have retained the original main title, since the subject has remained “Strauss Before Straussianism.” I wish to acknowledge valuable conversations with Shadia Drury over a period of several years as well as her considerable aid in obtaining material, such as Strauss's dissertation, to which I did not have initial access. I also thank my colleague Peter Breiner for helping me work through passages in the untranslated dissertation.

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