Leo Strauss: An Introduction

Format: Hardback
Length: 220 pages
Publication date: 25 June 2021
Publisher: Polity Press

Leo Strauss's lifelong intellectual quest was to reclaim 'classical rationalism,' a pursuit that has made him a contentious figure to this day. While his critics perceive him as accountable for a concerning anti-democratic streak in contemporary politics, others argue that his thought is, in fact, the strongest defense of responsible democracy.

Neil Robertson's new introduction to Strauss aims to bridge these divisions and present a non-partisan account of his thought. He demonstrates how Strauss's intellectual formation in Weimar Germany and his escape from Nazism led him to develop a critique of modernity that tended to support conservative politics while embracing a radical understanding of what philosophy is and can be. He examines how Strauss built upon the ideas of Nietzsche and Heidegger to show how their nihilism led not to a standpoint beyond Western rationality but to a recovery of its roots.

This masterful reconstruction of the coherence and unity of Strauss's thought is the essential guide for anyone wishing to fully grasp the contribution of one of the most contentious and intriguing figures in 20th-century intellectual history.

Weight: 460g
Dimension: 232 x 162 x 21 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781509516308