Leo Strauss and the Theopolitics of Culture (SUNY series in the Thought and Legacy of Leo Strauss)

__This archive-based study of the philosophy of Leo Strauss provides in-depth interpretations of key texts and their larger theoretical contexts.__ Contents Preface Introduction: Leo Strauss and the Theopolitics of Culture Part I: The Return of Religion, the Remnants of Neo-Kantianism, and the Systematic Place of “the Political” Introduction 1. Hermann Cohen on the Systematic Place of Religion 2. Post-Cohenian Quarrels: Rosenzweig, Natorp, Strauss 3. Strauss on Paul Natorp and Ernst Cassirer 4. Returning to Cohen: “Cohen and Maimonides” on Ethics and Politics 5. Strauss and Carl Schmitt: Vanquishing the “Systematics of Liberal Thought” Part II: The Argument and the Action of Philosophy and Law 6. A Hidden Masterpiece of Twentieth-Century Philosophy 7. Strauss’s Introduction 8. Leo Strauss and Julius Guttmann on the History of Jewish Philosophy Strauss’s Initial Argument (Philosophy and Law, chapter 1, part 1) Culture, Religion, and the Quest for a “Resolute Return” (chapter 1, part 2) Introducing Exotericism (chapter 1, part 3) Refuting Exotericism (chapter 2) Theoretical Difficulties (chapter 1, part 3 continued) Maimonides’s Critique of Reason (chapter 1, part 4) Introducing the Scholarly Argument (chapter 1, part 5) The Scholarly Argument (chapter 3) Strauss’s Conclusions (chapter 1, part 5) 9. A Complex Afterlife: Julius Guttmann, the “Jewish Thomism” Affair, and the Turn to Exotericism Building a Straw Man: Guttmann’s Reply “Jewish Thomism” “Returning” to Maimonides: Strauss’s Turn to Exotericism Part III: “German Nihilism” and the Intellectual Origins of National Socialism 10. Genealogies of National Socialism A Brief Outline of the Genre The Cases of Lutheranism and Romanticism German Idealism: Santayana, Dewey, and Beyond Nietzsche and National Socialism Two Interpretations of German Philosophy and Politics 11. Strauss’s Argument German Nihilism as Anticommunism A Parable of Liberal Education A Second Narrative on German Philosophy and Politics Conclusion Part IV: Strauss on Modern Relativism 12. From “Culture” to “Cultures”: Émigré Scholars, the Rise of Cultural Anthropology, and the Americanization of Leo Strauss 13. Cannibalism: Leo Strauss and Cultural Anthropology 14. Irrationalism and the Remnants of the Social Question 15. Two Types of Relativism Part V: Jerusalem and Athens 16. Jerusalem and Athens or Jerusalem versus Athens? The Setting Education “Toward Culture” Two Concepts of Culture: The Starting Point A Third Concept of Culture Jerusalem and Athens: Western Universalism Redefined Jerusalem versus Athens Dissolving the Binary Conclusion: Leo Strauss and “the Natural Way” of Reading Notes Bibliography Index 2020 CHOICE Outstanding Academic TitleIn this book, Philipp von Wussow argues that the philosophical project of Leo Strauss must be located in the intersection of culture, religion, and the political. Based on archival research on the philosophy of Strauss, von Wussow provides in-depth interpretations of key texts and their larger theoretical contexts. Presenting the necessary background in German-Jewish philosophy of the interwar period, von Wussow then offers detailed accounts and comprehensive interpretations of Strauss's early masterwork, Philosophy and Law, his wartime lecture'German Nihilism,'the sources and the scope of Strauss's critique of modern'relativism,'and a close commentary on the late text'Jerusalem and Athens.'With its rare blend of close reading and larger perspectives, this book is valuable for students of political philosophy, continental thought, and twentieth-century Jewish philosophy alike. It is indispensable as a guide to Strauss's philosophical project, as well as to some of the most intricate details of his writings. In this book, Philipp von Wussow argues that the philosophical project of Leo Strauss must be located in the intersection of culture, religion, and the political. Based on archival research on the philosophy of Strauss, von Wussow provides in-depth interpretations of key texts and their larger theoretical contexts. Presenting the necessary background in German-Jewish philosophy of the interwar period, von Wussow then offers detailed accounts and comprehensive interpretations of Strauss's early masterwork, Philosophy and Law, his wartime lecture "German Nihilism," the sources and the scope of Strauss's critique of modern "relativism," and a close commentary on the late text "Jerusalem and Athens." With its rare blend of close reading and larger perspectives, this book is valuable for students of political philosophy, continental thought, and twentieth-century Jewish philosophy alike. It is indispensable as a guide to Strauss's philosophical project, as well as to some of the most intricate details of his writings. -- Provided by publisher