The Political Ideas of Leo Strauss [Paperback]

Shadia B. Drury (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1990

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.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Shadia B. Drury is Professor of Politics at the University of Calgary.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan (October 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312042094
• ISBN-13: 978-0312042097
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,626,625 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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29 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The demystification of Leo Strauss - somewhat, May 15, 2006

By 

J. Grattan "Ideas can move the world" (Lawrenceville, GA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Political Ideas of Leo Strauss, Updated Edition: With a New Introduction By the Author (Paperback)

As the author states in her original introduction, understanding Strauss for the lay reader is virtually impossible, because he purposely obscures his ideas. According to Straussians, devoted acolytes of Strauss, the truth, at least as they see it, is far too disturbing for mere mortals to accept. Only god-like, elite philosophers can deal with harsh reality. Strauss engages in what are termed esoteric and exoteric (safe) writings. The purpose of this book is to shed some light on the esoteric writing.

Basically Straussians are anti-democratic in the sense of recognizing natural equality among men. Instead they subscribe to the domination of the strong over the weak - the reality of the natural world. To them, a stable social order requires that elites endorse and feed a diet of religion, deceit, and shibboleths to the common man to hide their reality-based agendas.

In a new introduction, the author makes clear that the neo-conservatives of the Bush administration are dominated by Straussians. It is interesting that she recognizes that philosophical elites require simple-thinking, true-believers of societal platitudes to carry out their radical policies - the very epitome of which is George Bush. Constant, chauvanistic war mongering is essential to keep the population in a non-thinking fervor, while more calculating elements like multi-national corporations can proceed with their agendas relatively unimpeded. The current and non-ending war on terror is a perfect vehicle to suspend analysis of policies and actions. However, it is disturbing when the elected leaders of a nation actually believe their own propaganda and convince others of its veracity.

This book, while demystifying Strauss to some extent, is itself not an easy read. But before one plunges into Strauss, it is a good place to start.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Beware the Jabberwocky, my son!, August 31, 2008

By 

greg taylor (Portland, Oregon United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Political Ideas of Leo Strauss, Updated Edition: With a New Introduction By the Author (Paperback)

Shadia Drury's book (hereafter called PILS) is a useful if overblown critical evaluation of Leo Strauss's work. PILS requires a lot of work. In order to really get something out of it, you must be have at hand several of Strauss's books (Natural Right and History, The City and Man, Thoughts on Machiavelli, On Tyranny and What is Political Philosophy are the minimum requirements) and you must be willing to constantly check what she is saying about Strauss against what is contained in those books.
Why would you do this? I came to the realization while reading PILS that even though it overstates its arguments which results in a straw man, that almost every argument that can be made for or against Drury can be made for or against Strauss. For example, I have argued that Strauss's interpretations of Locke, Machiavelli or Plato have to be taken seriously if for no other reason than it not easy to create a completely consistent, well-referenced version of these thinkers that is based on the entirety of their writings and on thin air. That same argument applies to what I see as the straw man Strauss that Drury has concocted. You cannot fault her for not having read enough of Strauss's writings or for coming up with textual evidence to support her view.
However, I believe that she is mistaken and that her mistakes begin on the first page of her book. First, she states in her Preface to the 1988 Edition that she is not going to regard Strauss as largely an historian of ideas but as a philosopher "with a unique and disturbing set of ideas that he is reluctant to state clearly" (p. lix). Prof. Drury has no intention of taking Struass's own self-understanding seriously. Instead of seeing him as having possibly uncovered a theme that runs throughout Western philosophical history, she sees him as using that history as an argument from authority writ large that he can use to seduce his readers. (The single most disturbing thing about PILS is the way Drury uses the word seduction throughout this book. Sometimes it is metaphoric, sometimes she implies that Strauss or his followers might be pederasts or gay. For an example, see p. 70.)
Strauss's theory of esoteric writing becomes, to Drury, only the means by which he practices his wiles upon his readers. Combine these two mistakes together and what you get is a Strauss who uses his commentaries on other thinkers as the means by which he states his own ideas. This is one of Strauss's own discoveries about estoeric writings. But Drury's use of it is crude in the extreme. She see Strauss as being a Nietzschean who (mis)reads Plato through the eyes of Farabi all while using Machiavelli as his main mouthpiece. Among other things, this means that she basically has to read Strauss so that he reads all other "great" philosophers as having the same message. Machiavelli is telling us the same thing as Farabi and Plato; Machiavelli just makes the mistake of being blatent about it and not hiding behind esoterica. Which is useful for Strauss because in talking about Machiavelli, Strauss can say all the Nietzschean things he wants and blah, blah, blah. All the nuance of Strauss's readings get lost in the Drury blender.
Sometimes, Drury contradicts herself when it is convenient to emphasize a point. For example, she talks about "the overwhelming unanimity readily observable among Straussian interpreters (p.11). Later (p.182), she talks about "the radical disagreement among Straussians regarding the true nature of Strauss's legacy". Apparently, overwhelming unanimity and radical disagreement go hand in hand. Also apparently, Strauss taught different things to different people depending on whether he saw them as worthy of being philosophers or gentlemen (p.187). I would love to have seen how he pulled that off in the classroom.
So why do I think, PILS is worth the time of those who have learned from Strauss? Because, she states quite clearly, certain themes and assumptions of Strauss. For example:
1. The assumption of the Eternal Whole. There "is a given whole to which man belongs, and ...man's place within the whole constitutes the permanent human situation" (p.51)
2. Humanity is three-fold in nature: the philosophers, "the lovers of honor and reputation, (the gentlemen and statesmen), and the lovers of pleasure (the vulgar)" (p.198)
3. Philosophy is the highest human activity. It is the preserve of a few. (p. 19)
4. This fact creates the "conflict between philosophy and the city [which} is irresolvable" (p. 12).
5. The truth is dangerous . (p.6). Which is why you hide that truth with esoterica.
I do think that Drury is right about the following. For the most part, these assumptions are not really argued for by Strauss. He seems to believe them because Plato or Farabi or Maimonides did. Strauss just takes it for granted that he does not have to argue for certain things. My own favorite example is the existence of the soul.
PILS brings these issues into clear focus. It is not, however, to be recommended as a good and fair-minded introduction to Strauss' thought. I would say go to Daniel Tanguay for that. If you do read Drury as an intro to Struass you need to balance that with a reading of Catherine and Michael Zuckert's The Truth About Leo Strauss. But what I really recommend you do is take your vorpal blade in hand and enter the tulgey wood of Strauss's writings. Read What is Political Philosophy or An Introduction to Political Philosophy. And then read something like Natural Right and History or Thoughts on Machiavelli. Expect to be challenged, to learn and to disagree. But, at least, you will be dealing directly with the real thing instead of some commentator's ideas. And that theory will lead you from Strauss back to Plato and Machiavelli and that is when the fun begins.
P.S. If you are inclined to the left side of politics (me!me!me!), read Drury's Introduction to the Updated Edition as an enjoyable example of how to wildly overstate something that really doesn't need to be overstated. If you are a Bushie, please read it immediately as your head will explode (metaphorically, of course).

44 of 67 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars STRAUSS DENOUNCED IN DETAIL, August 2, 2005

By 

Bill Barger "Sartre88" (Manhattan Beach CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Political Ideas of Leo Strauss, Updated Edition: With a New Introduction By the Author (Paperback)

Shadia Drury's book originally was a cool and brilliant analysis of the Strauss dogmas, restrained in its criticism. This new edition is preceded by an even more brilliant 57-page preface which emphatically exposes the radicalism Strauss transmitted to his students. They now surround President Bush. His catastrophic policies show that Strauss' near-fascist teachings have infected their advice to him. Absolutely a must read for everyone who wants to know the political doctrines behind our present disaster in Iraq. Sartre88