Link sent in. On Strauss:
‘For one thing, he recognized and many times said that there is, at least in the United States, common ground shared by political philosophy and Christianity, especially the Roman Catholic Church, in the struggle against modern relativism and vulgar hedonism. Besides, Mr. Strauss always was in these matters a very cautious man: he was always aware, that is, of his minority status as a Jew and even more as a student of political philosophy, an awareness which very much contributed to his sensitivity to the possibility of esotericism.’
and often I’ve seen such tension play out in policy debates between the ‘secular republic’ and the ‘constitutional republic’ crowds:
‘Any well-established religion, it should be expected, is apt to have had exerted upon it over the centuries the sobering influence of nature. And, as Mr. Fortin points out, recourse to political philosophy made Christianity politically responsible in this world. In being thus useful, it should be noticed, political philosophy may pose more of a threat to Christianity than it does to Judaism. Has not Judaism always been more concerned with the things of this world, and hence with worldly wisdom?’
It’s good to note how close and exhaustive a reader of texts Strauss was.
Also On This Site: Getting a better hold on Strauss. See the comments: Update And Repost- From YouTube: Leo Strauss On The Meno-More On The Fact/Value Distinction?’
Harry Jaffa At The Claremont Institute: ‘Leo Strauss, the Bible, and Political Philosophy’…Some Tuesday Quotations From Leo Strauss…From Peter Berkowitz At Harvard: ‘The Reason Of Revelation: The Jewish Thought Of Leo Strauss’…
Can Kant do all that heavy lifting…what are some of the dangers of Enlightenment project?: From Bryan Magee’s Talking Philosophy On Youtube: Geoffrey Warnock On Kant…A Few Thoughts On Isaiah Berlin’s “Two Concepts Of Liberty” …
Is there a move afoot in America away from religion, social conservatism, and toward morality via secular Enlightenment ideals…towards value-free relativism? toward secular morality?: Franz De Waal At The NY Times 10/17/10: ‘Morals Without God?’…Repost-Steven Weinberg’s Essay ‘On God’ In The NY Times Review Of Books…Roger Scruton At The WSJ: ‘Memo To Hawking: There’s Still Room For God’ …Will Wilkinson At Forbes: ‘The Social Animal by David Brooks: A Scornful Review’..
…Robert George And Cornel West At Bloggingheads: “The Scandal Of The Cross”
