A new politics for philosophy : perspectives on Plato, Nietzsche, and Strauss : for Laurence Lampert

"A New Politics for Philosophy: Perspectives on Plato, Nietzsche, and Strauss presents meticulous readings of key philosophical works of towering figures from both the classical and modern intellectual traditions: Protagoras, Aeschylus, Xenophon, Plato, Nietzsche, and Leo Strauss. Inspired by the scholarship of Laurence Lampert, this international group of scholars explores questions of the nature or identity of the philosopher. The chapters touch on topics ranging from Plato's Charmides, Aeschylus' Prometheia Trilogy, Xenophon's Hiero or Tyrannicus, Nietzsche's Thus Spoke Zarathustra and Ecce Homo, Nietzsche's Plato, whether Nietzsche thought of himself as a modern-day Socrates, philosophy's relationship to science, the function of the noontide image in the center of Part IV of Nietzsche's Zarathustra, a re-evaluation of the young Nietzsche's break from the spell of Schopenhauer, the dramatic date of the conversation presented in Plato's Republic, Leo Strauss's account of the modern break with classical political philosophy, and Nietzschean environmentalism. The book also includes an interview with Laurence Lampert"-- Provided by publisher Contents 6 Acknowledgments 8 Introduction: Philosophy and Its Poetry • George A. Dunn and Mango Telli 10 Interview with Laurence Lampert • Conducted by Daniel Blue 32 PART I: THE CLASSICAL BACKGROUND: PLATO, PROTAGORAS, AND XENOPHON 46 1 How to Read Plato with Nietzschean Insights • Liu Xiaofeng 48 2 On the Opening of Plato’s Charmides • Peng Lei 62 3 Socrates, Bendis, and Cephalus: Does Plato’s Republic Have an Historical Setting? • Christopher Planeaux 76 4 Recovering the Wisdom of Protagoras: A Reinterpretation of the Prometheia Trilogy • Marty Sulek 108 5 What Makes a Wise Man Laugh?: On Eros and Heartache in Xenophon’s Hiero • Mango Telli 128 PART II: FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE: PHILOSOPHER OF OUR AGE 144 6 Zarathustra’s Crisis of Redemption • Heinrich Meier 146 7 Nietzsche’s Apology: On Reading Ecce Homo, or, How One Becomes What One Is • Leon Harold Craig 168 8 Lange’s Consolation Prize: Nietzsche’s First Criticisms of Schopenhauer • Daniel Blue 194 9 High Noon on Zarathustra’s Mountain: Zarathustra’s Midday Vision • Paul Bishop 210 10 Renatured Humans on a Sacred Earth: The Power of Nietzsche’s Ecological Thinking • Graham Parkes 232 PART III: STRAUSS, MODERNITY, AND THEOLOGICAL-POLITICAL ENGAGEMENTS 258 11 From the Death of God to the Death of Man: What Lampert and Nietzsche Can Teach Catholics—and Straussians—about Environmentalism • Peter Minowitz 260 12 The Collapsing Ladder of Degree: René Girard and Leo Strausson the Origins of Modernity • George A. Dunn 284 Bibliography of Works by Laurence Lampert 326 Index 8 About the Contributors 336 Inspired by the scholarship of Laurence Lampert, this international group of scholars offer meticulous interpretations of key philosophical works by Protagoras, Aeschylus, Xenophon, Plato, Descartes, Nietzsche, and Leo Strauss.