I picked up a copy of Leo-Strauss' 'What is Political Philosophy?' the other day. It is a collection of essays, lectures and book reviews written in the mid-20th century. This text has surfaced before in this weblog.
In the lead essay, Strauss says:
"Today, political philosophy is in a state of decay and putrefaction, if it has not vanished altogether. Not only is there complete disagreement regarding its subject matter, its methods and its function; its very possibility in any form has become questionable ... We hardly exaggerate when we say that that today political philosophy does not exist any more, except as a matter for burial, i.e., for historical research, or else as a theme of weak and unconvincing protestation."
Strauss acknowledges rightfully understands positivism as maintaining that modern science is the highest form of knowledge; that the social sciences should model themselves on the natural sciences; there is a fundamental difference between fact and value; that value means personal preference; and that science is value-free. That kinda kills off political philosophy as politics departments embrace a positivist political science with enthusiasm.
Strauss also argues that political philosophy is squeezed by historicism. He characterizes this as abandoning the distinction between facts and values because every understanding is evaluative; denies the authoritative character of modern science refuses to regard the historical process as fundamentally progressive; denies the relevance of the evolutionary theiss and rejects the question of the good society.
Strauss decides to fight these two powerful modern currents by returning to the classical political philosophy of Plato and Aristotle; who use the language of citizens and statemen, is concerned with the best regime, virtue and the formation of character. Hence this philosophy is directly related to political life.
This classical tradition was then rejected in modernity in three waves: Machiavelli/Hobbes, Rousseau and German Idealistic philosophy and Nietzsche.
Posted by Gary Sauer-Thompson at March 20, 2005 10:44 PM | TrackBack