The Political Ideas of Leo Strauss, Updated Edition : With a New Introduction By the Author

Now in paperback, this book explores the political thought of Leo Strauss, a philosopher most noted for playing a key role in neoconservative thought in America. Drury explores Strauss's thought and its role in American politics, exposing what she argues are the elitist, nearly authoritarian strains within it and those who follow it. A polemic against Strauss and his followers, the original edition has won Drury little friendship from the neoconservative camp and this revised edition with a new introduction is sure to continue the controversy among political theorists. Was Strauss a traditional conservative, a defender of religion and a critic of moral relativism, or was he an atheist and moral nihilist who believed the purpose of traditional values is to tranquilize the masses and the best way of government was through a secret elite operating outside the law? Drury (philosophy and political science, U. of Regina) is inclined toward the latter, to put it mildly, and indicates serious students of Strauss, including high-ranking members of government know and apply his principles to domestic and foreign policy, resulting in, as her new introduction for this edition says, "secrecy, lies and endless war." She examines Strauss against a number of philosophical and political measures, indicating he borrowed extensively from Nietzsche and Machiavelli to come up with a system of thought certainly different than that accepted by the academe, and definitely different than that expressed by present believers. Annotation : 2005 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Was Strauss a traditional conservative, a defender of religion and a critic of moral relativism, or was he an atheist and moral nihilist who believed the purpose of traditional values is to tranquilize the masses and the best way of government was through a secret elite operating outside the law? Drury (philosophy and political science, U. of Regina) is inclined toward the latter, to put it mildly, and indicates serious students of Strauss, including high-ranking members of government know and apply his principles to domestic and foreign policy, resulting in, as her new introduction for this edition says, secrecy, lies and endless war. She examines Strauss against a number of philosophical and political measures, indicating he borrowed extensively from Nietzsche and Machiavelli to come up with a system of thought certainly different than that accepted by the academe, and definitely different than that expressed by present believers. Annotation ©2005 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Cover......Page 1 Contents......Page 8 Introduction to the Updated Edition: Straussians in Power: Secrecy, Lies, and Endless War......Page 10 Preface to the 1988 Edition......Page 60 1 Leo Strauss: Teacher and Philosopher......Page 68 2 Esoteric Philosophy and Ancient Wisdom......Page 85 3 Philosophy's Hidden Revolt against God......Page 104 4 Socrates and the Drama of Western Civilization......Page 128 5 Classic Natural Right or the Teaching on Tyranny......Page 157 6 Machiavelli's Subversion of Esotericism......Page 181 7 Hobbes and the Character of Modernity......Page 200 8 The Crisis of Modernity......Page 218 9 Post-Modernity: Plato or Nietzsche?......Page 237 10 Esotericism Betrayed......Page 249 11 The Wise and the Vulgar: A Criticism of Leo Strauss......Page 260 Notes......Page 270 Select Bibliography......Page 310 F......Page 320 M......Page 321 R......Page 322 Z......Page 323