Leo Strauss, The Straussians, and the Study of the American Regime

by Deutsch, Kenneth L.; Murley, John A.; Anastaplo, George; Arkes, Hadley; Arnhart, Larry; with Eva Brann, Laurence Berns; Blitz, Mark; Botwinick, Aryeh; Colmo, Christopher A.; Cropsey, Joseph; Deutsch, Kenneth; Dry, Murray; Eden, Robert; Galston, Miriam; Ga

• ISBN13: 9780847686926
• ISBN10: 0847686922
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1999-09-28
• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Summary

Responding to volatile criticisms frequently leveled at Leo Strauss and those he influenced, the prominent contributors to this volume demonstrate the profound influence that Strauss and his students have exerted on American liberal democracy and contemporary political thought. By stressing the enduring vitality of classic books and by articulating the theoretical and practical flaws of relativism and historicism, the contributors argue that Strauss and the Straussians have identified fundamental crises of modernity and liberal democracy. This book emphasizes the broad range of Strauss's influence, from literary criticism to constitutional thought, and it denies the existence of a monolithic Straussian political orthodoxy. Both critics and supporters of Strauss' thought are included. All political theorists interested in Strauss's extraordinary impact on political thought will want to read this book.

Table of Contents

Preface	xi
PART ONE: ON LEO STRAUSS'S AMERICAN CAREER
Leo Strauss at the University of Chicago	3	(28)
George Anastaplo
Leo Strauss at St. John's College (Annapolis)	31	(8)
Laurence Berns
Eva Brann
Leo Strauss at the University of Chicago	39	(2)
Joseph Cropsey
Strauss at One Hundred	41	(10)
Harry V. Jaffa
PART TWO: TAKING LEO STRAUSS SERIOUSLY
Leo Strauss, the Straussians, and the American Regime	51	(18)
Kenneth L. Deutsch
Strauss on Our Minds	69	(22)
Hadley Arkes
Leo Strauss: Philosophy and American Social Science	91	(12)
Eugene F. Miller
Athens and Washington: Leo Strauss and the American Regime	103	(26)
Gregory Bruce Smith
Strauss's Generalized Agnosticism and American Liberalism	129	(14)
Aryeh Botwinick
Locating Leo Strauss in the Liberal-Communitarian Debate	143	(16)
Ronald J. Terchek
PART THREE: THE FIRST GENERATION
In re George Anastaplo	159	(34)
John A. Murley
Walter Berns: The Constitution and American Liberal Democracy	193	(12)
Gary D. Glenn
Allan Bloom: Strauss, Socrates, and Liberal Education	205	(16)
Walter Nicgorski
Joseph Cropsey: Modernity and the American Regime	221	(14)
Christopher A. Colmo
Refinding the Founding: Martin Diamond, Leo Strauss, and the American Regime	235	(18)
Michael P. Zuckert
Paul Eidelberg: The Mixed Regime and the American Regime	253	(12)
Will Morrisey
A New Birth of Freedom: Harry V. Jaffa and the Study of America	265	(18)
Charles R. Kesler
Back to the Future: Ralph Lerner's Political Thought	283	(10)
Miriam Galston
Roger Masters: Natural Right and Biology	293	(12)
Larry Arnhart
Herbert Storing: The American Founding and the American Regime	305	(26)
Murray Dry
PART FOUR: AMERICAN POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS
Congress and Straussian Constitutionalism	331	(20)
John A. Murley
Executive Power and the Presidency	351	(12)
Robert Eden
The Supreme Court: Republican Schoolmaster	363	(20)
Ralph A. Rossum
Bureaucracy and America: Leo Strauss on Constitutionalism, the State, and Tyranny	383	(24)
John A. Marini
PART FIVE: REFLECTIONS FROM PRACTICE
Leo Strauss and the World of Intelligence (By Which We Do Not Mean Nous)	407	(6)
Gary J. Schmitt
Abram N. Shulsky
Thoughts on Strauss and Our Present Discontents	413	(6)
Carnes Lord
The Charm of Competence: A Straussian Looks at the Therapeutic State	419	(10)
Susan Orr
A Student of Leo Strauss in the Clinton Administration	429	(10)
William A. Galston
Government Practice and the School of Strauss	439	(8)
Mark Blitz
About the Contributors	447