Leo Strauss On Plato's Symposium [Hardcover]

Leo Strauss (Author), Seth Benardete (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0226776859 | ISBN-13: 978-0226776859 | Publication Date: August 1, 2001 | Edition: 1

The first major piece of unpublished work by Leo Strauss to appear in more than thirty years, this volume offers the public the unprecedented experience of encountering this renowned scholar as his students did. Given as a course in autumn 1959 under the title "Plato's Political Philosophy," these provocative lectures—until now, never published, but instead passed down from one generation of students to the next—show Strauss at his subtle and insightful best.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

In fall 1959, Strauss offered a course at the University of Chicago titled "Plato's Political Philosophy," during which he lectured on the Symposium. It was suggested shortly after that the lectures be reworked and published, and Strauss agreed. Benardete (classics, New York Univ.) worked on the manuscript, but Strauss was not satisfied with the results, and the project languished until 1999, when Benardete picked it up again and completed it. The resulting publication is not only an excellent analysis of, and introduction to, the Symposium but a text that mirrors the mind and skills of a renowned teacher. Strauss provides a detailed and careful reading of the dialog, together with a cogent analysis of its place in Plato's work, the nature of Eros, the tension between philosophy and poetry, and other related topics. This is a valuable addition to libraries that support programs in philosophy and/or political studies. Terry Skeats, Bishop's Univ. Lib., Lennoxville, Quebec
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From the Inside Flap

The first major piece of unpublished work by Leo Strauss to appear in more than thirty years, Leo Strauss On Plato's "Symposium" offers the public the unprecedented experience of encountering this renowned scholar as his students did. Given as a course in autumn 1959 under the title "Plato's Political Philosophy," at the University of Chicago, these transcripts previously had circulated in samizdat fashion, passed down from one generation of students to the next. They show Strauss at his best, in his subtle and sometimes indirect style of analysis, which has attracted almost as much commentary as has the content of his thought.

Strauss presents a coherent and complete interpretation of the Symposium, proceeding by a meticulous reading from beginning to end. Operating on the once common hypothesis that commentary is an excellent method of expounding the truth, Strauss sheds light not only on the meaning of the dialogue and its place in the Platonic corpus, but also on a host of important topics, including the nature of eros and its place in the overall economy of human life; the perennial quarrel between poetry and philosophy, and the relation of both to piety, politics, and morality; the character of Socrates and the questions of his trial; and many other matters.

As provocative as they were a half century ago, these important lectures will be welcomed by students of classics, philosophy, politics, psychology, and political philosophy.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: University Of Chicago Press; 1 edition (August 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0226776859
• ISBN-13: 978-0226776859
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #920,055 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Take Professor Strauss's Class, August 27, 2001

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Scott W. Johnson (St. Paul, MN) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Leo Strauss On Plato's Symposium (Hardcover)

This is a remarkable book. It consists of transcriptions of the lectures given by Leo Strauss in his 1959 University of Chicago course on Plato's political philosophy. The course was devoted to the study of Plato's Symposium, but Strauss of course discusses several other dialogues that he suggests are related to the Symposium. The lectures read differently than the books and essays Professor Strauss prepared for publication. They are somewhat more open; they go somewhat more slowly through the material; they are perhaps somewhat less apparently ironic. But this only begins to hint at the special riches of the access this book affords to Professor Strauss's classroom.

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Stunning clarity, September 13, 2001

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J. C. Woods "silvannus" (Malden, MA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Leo Strauss On Plato's Symposium (Hardcover)

Symposium is my favorite dialogue and as such I've read a number of commentaries (Rosen, Allen and Dover). This one is very special. Strauss has a reach, a clarity and an elegance that is stunning. Let me give you an example. Strauss claims that Aristophanes' The Frogs was the model for the Symposium. Never thought of that before, but when you think about it, it's obvious. Yes, a very powerful idea. This level is sustained throughout the book. You may not agree with everything Strauss says, but even where you disagree you will find him profitable.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Works like majic on the mind, May 8, 2003

By 

Michael Russell - See all my reviews

This review is from: Leo Strauss On Plato's Symposium (Paperback)

This is a different sort of Leo Strauss book. It's not a lecture given by him, and then edited for publication; rather, it is a transcription of a graduate class at U of Chicago in 1959. Yet despite this distance from Strauss' own hand- it reads as a rich and telling tale about philosophy and the possibilty of it. Strauss mentions early on that even the most average novelist, compared to the contemporary social scientist, produces a better insight to the human condition. Yet Strauss exceeds each craft in the course of this lecture. The amazing richness, touches of braod insight on a variety of topics, historical imagination and speculation, political comment and human awareness which leaks across the page are so satisfying and interesting, the book immediately stands out as significant, enjoyable, important, and worth re-reading as any classic piece of literature. Suspend all preconceptions and just float into this work; take it a page at a time- stop and wonder on the words- a careful reader will have to, for the surprising, unique, complex, complicated and shocking punctuate the work. An example is on page 94, when Strauss comments that Marx realized the bisexual nature of man had to be overcome if true communism would ever come to pass. Bisexual nature of man? What does this mean- how does it relate to Marx? The penetration and insight of Strauss on the material is so deft, it sparks insight to many other Platonic works, contemporary politics and the history of political philosophy. The uniqueness of Strauss' take on the Symposium is so daring, it will undoubtly lead one to reconsider their conception of Ancient Greek history, Platonic cosmology and the nature of mankind. Truly a priceless book.