Leo Strauss
Leo Strauss – Life, Thought, and Enduring Influence
: Leo Strauss (1899–1973) was a German-born American political philosopher who revived classical political philosophy, developed the doctrine of esoteric writing, and critiqued modernity. This article explores his biography, philosophy, controversies, quotes, and lessons.
Introduction
Leo Strauss (September 20, 1899 – October 18, 1973) was a major figure in 20th-century political philosophy, best known for his revival of classical political thought, his critique of modern liberalism, and his doctrine that philosophers often write esoterically to conceal deeper truth. Though born in Germany, Strauss emigrated to the U.S. and taught decades at the University of Chicago, influencing generations of scholars and spawning a distinct school of “Straussian” interpretation.
Strauss’s work addresses a persistent tension in Western thought: how to reconcile the authority of tradition and natural right with the challenges posed by modern science, historicism, relativism, and nihilism. His legacy remains controversial—admired by many for restoring seriousness to political philosophy, critiqued by others for elitism or anti-liberal leanings.
Early Life and Education
Family and Early Years
Leo Strauss was born in Kirchhain, Hesse-Nassau (then part of Prussia, German Empire), to Jewish parents Hugo Strauss and Jennie David.
He began schooling in Kirchhain and then, in 1912, moved to Marburg, entering the Gymnasium Philippinum (a secondary school tied to the University of Marburg).
University Studies & Intellectual Influences
After the war, Strauss studied philosophy, attending the University of Hamburg, where he earned his doctorate in 1921 under Ernst Cassirer. His dissertation was On the Problem of Knowledge in the Philosophical Doctrine of F. H. Jacobi.
He also studied in Freiburg and Marburg, engaging with figures like Edmund Husserl and Martin Heidegger as part of his philosophical formation. neo-Kantian tradition (via Cassirer) with phenomenology and existentialism.
Strauss also was engaged in Jewish intellectual circles, Zionist youth movements, and German Jewish thought during his early years, including friendships with Gershom Scholem, Walter Benjamin, and others.
By the 1930s, with the rise of Nazism, intellectual conditions in Germany deteriorated for Jewish scholars. Strauss began relocating his academic life abroad and ultimately immigrated to the United States in 1937.
Academic Career & Later Life
Emigration and U.S. Positions
After arriving in the United States, Strauss taught at institutions including The New School (in New York) and served in adjunct roles at Hamilton College, before settling into a prominent appointment at the University of Chicago in 1949. Robert Maynard Hutchins Distinguished Service Professorship until 1969.
In 1970, Strauss accepted a position at St. John’s College, Annapolis, becoming Scott Buchanan Distinguished Scholar in Residence until his death in 1973.
Intellectual Circles & Relationships
Strauss maintained significant intellectual friendships and dialogues, notably with Alexandre Kojève and Carl Schmitt. His exchanges with Kojève (the French Hegelian interpreter) were especially fruitful and often formed contrastive approaches to modern philosophy.
His students and followers include influential academics such as Allan Bloom, Stanley Rosen, Harvey Mansfield, and many others who carried forward or adapted Straussian methods.
Philosophical Thought & Key Themes
Strauss’s work is rich and multifaceted. Below are some of the central ideas that define his contributions:
Critique of Modernity & the Return to Classical Philosophy
One of Strauss’s primary concerns was the crisis of modernity: the idea that modern philosophical, scientific, and social developments had undermined traditional morality, natural right, and metaphysical foundations.
To remedy this, Strauss urged a return to classical political rationalism—the study of ancient thinkers such as Plato and Aristotle—as well as medieval Islamic and Jewish philosophers (e.g., Al-Farabi, Maimonides), in order to recover a deeper conception of natural right, virtue, and the good life.
Esoteric Writing & the Art of Writing
Perhaps his most distinctive hermeneutic doctrine is that serious philosophical writers often write esoterically—hiding their deeper meaning beneath a public or conventional surface. In Persecution and the Art of Writing, Strauss argues that in many political contexts (especially under regimes hostile to free thought), philosophers must mask their true message to avoid persecution, to educate the few capable of discerning it, and to prevent destabilization among the unphilosophic masses.
This leads to the idea that great texts have multiple levels: an exoteric (public) meaning and an esoteric (hidden) teaching. Learning to read philosophically involves learning how to discern what lies beneath.
Philosophy & Politics: Irreducible Tension
Strauss held that philosophy (the love of wisdom) and political life are inherently tensioned. Philosophy seeks truth and universality; politics must operate with partial knowledge, contingency, and judgment. He maintained that philosophers should not be naïvely integrated into political power but must sustain intellectual autonomy.
He saw the trial and death of Socrates as the moment when this tension is revealed—philosophers may be endangered in political regimes.
Natural Right, History, and Universalism
Strauss’s Natural Right and History (1953) is a core work. There he criticizes historicism, which denies universal moral standards by reducing them to products of culture or historical period, and defends the possibility of natural right—standards of justice anchored in human nature that transcend particular times.
Still, Strauss is careful not to collapse into naïve moralism; he emphasizes the difficulty of knowing natural right and the need for philosophic humility.
Readings of Hobbes, Spinoza, Machiavelli, Maimonides, and Others
Strauss wrote influential studies on Hobbes, Spinoza, Machiavelli, and other modern philosophers, often interpreting their writings as reflecting deeper tensions between reason and revelation, or between esoteric and exoteric meaning.
In On Tyranny: An Interpretation of Xenophon’s Hieron, Strauss explores the nature of tyranny and philosophical leadership through classical dialogue.
Strauss also engaged critically with Carl Schmitt’s concept of the political, offering alternative readings and critiques.
Reception, Influence & Criticism
The Straussian School & Influence
Strauss’s students and successors formed a loose intellectual lineage often called Straussianism. Scholars influenced by him operate in many disciplines—political theory, political science, philosophy, classics—and frequently engage with ancient vs. modern debates, natural right, and interpretive reading of texts.
Critiques and Controversies
Strauss’s work has been subject to persistent criticism:
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Elitism & Anti-Democratic Tendencies
Some critics argue that Strauss’s emphasis on philosophy’s elitism and his doctrine of esoteric writing amount to anti-democratic or anti-transparency positions. Shadia Drury, in Leo Strauss and the American Right, contends that Strauss supports the idea of noble lies—myths told by elites to govern the masses. -
Ambiguity & Interpretive Overreach
Because Strauss often draws subtle distinctions and hidden meanings, detractors argue that his reading becomes overly subjective, speculative, or even conspiratorial. Some see rhetorical sleight-of-hand in the claim to discover hidden esoteric teachings. -
Association with Conservatism & Neoconservatism
While Strauss himself eschewed overt partisan alignment, many later thinkers identifying as Straussans have become influential in conservative or neoconservative circles, prompting critiques that Strauss’s thought undergirds ideological agendas. -
Historical Context and Misuse
Some argue Strauss’s techniques and doctrines have been appropriated selectively and divorced from his nuance—leading to simplified or dogmatic “Straussian” rhetoric that Strauss himself might have criticized.
Nonetheless, defenders argue much criticism misreads Strauss’s textual subtlety, his emphasis on philosophical difficulty, or the caution with which he addresses political power.
Selected Quotes & Aphorisms
Because Strauss was a philosopher who often preferred subtlety over pithy slogans, direct quotes are fewer, but here are some noteworthy ones:
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“Philosophers are always those who insist: something is terribly wrong.”
(Often cited as reflecting his view that philosophy arises from crisis.) -
“What is political philosophy? It is the study of the highest things in the highest way possible.”
(Reflecting his view that political philosophy seeks the chief goods and questions beyond mere instrumentality.) -
“Thus, the philosophers did not invent the problem of philosophy; they answered it.”
(A claim about philosophy’s historical continuity.) -
“To read is to interpret; to interpret is to judge.”
(Emphasizing that reading philosophical texts is not neutral or passive.) -
“In order that the search for truth might not suffer from the multiplicity of tongues, some philosophers have resorted to silence or to the art of writing.”
(From Persecution and the Art of Writing, about esoteric style.)
Because translations vary, these quotes may appear in different forms in Hermann’s or other editions.
Lessons from Strauss’s Life & Thought
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Take texts seriously; resist superficial reading
Strauss’s hermeneutic discipline demands close, careful reading, always probing for deeper meaning, tensions, and contradictions. -
Remember philosophy amid politics
For Strauss, political science detached from philosophy becomes shallow; philosophical reflection remains necessary to anchor political judgments. -
Maintain intellectual humility
His belief that many truths are hidden or difficult suggests caution against ideological or reductive claims. -
Recognize the crisis of modern thought
Strauss warns that modernity’s rejection of tradition or natural right may leave us in a moral and intellectual void. Confronting that challenge is a task for serious thinkers. -
Mind the tension between philosophy and power
Philosophers should understand politics, but not become captive to it; preserving philosophical independence is central in Strauss’s vision.
Conclusion
Leo Strauss remains one of the most provocative and debated political philosophers of the 20th century. His project of reviving classical political philosophy, his doctrine of esoteric writing, his critique of modernity, and his subtle but demanding interpretive method continue to provoke both admiration and dissent. Engaging with Strauss means entering the rich, challenging terrain of philosophy’s relation to politics, tradition to modernity, and the limits of human knowledge.