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THE POLITICAL IDEAS of LEO STRAUSS, UPDATED Edffion THE POLITICAL IDEAS OF LEO STRAUSS, UPDATED EDffiON This page intentionally left blank The Political Ideas of Leo Strauss, Updated Edition With a New Introduction By the Author Shadia B. Drury 1HE POLmCAL IDEAS OF LEO STRAUSS (UPDATED EDmON) ©5hadia B. Drury, 1988,2005. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. First 5t. Martin's Press paperback edition: 1988 * PALGRAVE MACMILLANTM updated edition: June 2005 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010 and Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire, England RG21 6XS Companies and representatives throughout the world. PALGRAVE MACMILLAN is the global academic imprint of the Palgrave Macmillan division of 5t. Martin's Press, LLC and of Palgrave Macmillan Ltd. Macmillan® is a registered trademark in the United 5tates, United Kingdom and other countries. Palgrave is a registered trademark in the European Union and other countries. ISBN 978-1-4039-6954-5 ISBN 978-1-4039-7859-2 (eBook) DOI 10.1057/9781403978592 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Drury, 5hadia B., 1950- The political ideas of Leo Strauss. Bibliography: p. Indudes index. 1. Strauss, Leo-Contributions in political science. I. Title. JC251.S8D78 1987 320'.01 87-4778 A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. PALGRAVE MACMILLAN updated edition: June 2005 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 To Dennis This page intentionally left blank Contents Introduction to the Updated Edition: Straussians in Power: Secrecy, Lies, and Endless War ix Preface to the 1988 Edition lix 1 Leo Stranss: Teacher and Philosopher 1 2 Esoteric Philosophy and Ancient Wisdom 18 3 Philosophy' s Hidden Revolt against God 37 4 Socrates and the Drama of Western Civilization 61 5 Classic Natural Right or the Teaching on Tyranny 90 6 Machiavelli' s Subversion of Esotericism 114 7 Hobbes and the Character of Modernity 133 8 The Crisis of Modernity 151 9 Post-Modernity: Plato or Nietzsehe? 170 10 Esotericism Betrayed 182 11 The Wise and the Vulgar: A Criticism of Leo Strauss 193 Notes 203 Select Bibliography 243 Index 253 vii This page intentionally left blank Straussians in Power: Secrecy, Lies, and Endless War When The Political Ideas of Leo Strauss was published in 1988, it astonished the academic community (including many of Strauss's students) because the analysis it presented of Strauss's political ideas was radically at odds with his reputation in the academy. The book painted a clear but disturbing picture of Strauss's political thought, which was based exclusively on an analysis of his published works. It provided extensive textual evi­ dence to show that, contrary to received opinion, Strauss was not a traditional conservative nor a quiet interpreter of old texts, but a representative of a new brand of rabid, radical, nihilistic, and postmodern conservatism. Instead of being adefender of religion and a critic of moral relativism, the book revealed Strauss as an atheist and a moral nihilist who advocated the use of religion, morality, and family values as useful political tools by which to placate and manipulate the masses. Instead of being the self pro­ claimed protege of Plato, the book revealed Strauss's political thought as a dark brew of ideas borrowed form Machiavelli, Freud, and Nietzsche. In short, the book showed that Strauss was a sworn enemy of freedom and democracy who believed that the best form of government is the absolute but covert rule of a 'wise' elite independent of law. And while some of Strauss's students quibbled with particular details of his view on this or that, the general picture has been quite undeniable.1 And despite their staggering numbers within the academy, the Straussians have not managed to produce a comprehensive account of Strauss's work that could displace the critical analysis provided here. In writing the book, I was primarily motivated by the desire to expose the purposeful deception and studied obscurantism of a school of thought that had become so prevalent that it threatened the meaningful exchange of ideas in the academy. My initial desire was to smoke the Straussians out of their caves and force them to defend their ideas openly before their peers. With the ix x Straussians in Power exeeption of a feweandid exchanges, mostly in private, the exercise was rather futile. But the book was also intended as a warning that the tendency of Strauss's students to gravitate toward posi­ tions of politieal power is diseoneerting beeause those who believe the things that Strauss believed are bound to behave badly when they are in positions of power and influenee.2 The drift of Straussians from the aeademy into the highest levels of government has reached its zenith in the administration of George W. Bush. This has made Strauss a subject of great inter­ est outside the aeademy. Highly publicized Straussians were among the most prominent neoeonservatives who engineered the aggressive foreign poliey of the Bush administration. There is no denying that Strauss shaped the minds of the men who embarked on a foreign poliey that has had monumental ramifiea­ tions for Ameriea and for the world. There is a clear link between theory and practiee: there is adefinite eonneetion between the politieal ideas of Leo Strauss and the ruinous state of Ameriean democracy and its tragie foreign policy. These recent develop­ ments are the reason that the book is being republished (exactly as it appeared in 1988) with a new introduction. No one represents the daunting political power of the Straussians in the Bush administration more than Paul Wolfowitz, Deputy Minister of Defense and assistant to Viee President Diek Cheney. Wolfowitz was one of the key arehiteets of the war on Iraq and a self-proclaimed follower of Strauss. Wolfowitz was a student of Strauss in Chieago and then a student of Allan Bloom at Cornell. Bloom's Closing 01 the American Mind popularized the ideas of Strauss and used them to eriticize Ameriean eulture. Bloom denouneed American liberal society for being empty, nihilistie, and meaningless. He eompared his Ameriean students to 'naked animals' without the 'trappings of civilization', with nothing to live or die for.3 He lamented that, unlike their parents, they did not have faith in God to fill the void, or a war effort to give their life meaning. In planning the war against Iraq, was Wolfowitz providing the eure to the malaise diagnosed by his teaeher? Was he providing the antidote to modern nihilism? I do not pretend to know. What I do know is that enthusiasm for war is integral to Straussianism. Wolfowitz is believed to be the Washington operative por­ trayed in Saul Bellow's novel Ravelstein who ealls his aging pro­ fessor for strategie political advice. And even though Bellow's Straussians in Power xi portrait of Bloom misses the mark, Bellow gets one thing right­ many of Strauss's students have been animated by a sense of mission - a mission of great political urgency to save America from her liberal decadence.4 But, can a senseless war be a remedy for decadence? Abram Shulsky, the Director of the Office of Special Plans, which was created by Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, was a student of Strauss. Shulsky was responsible for finding intelligence that would help to make the case for the war on Iraq. We know now that the intelligence was misleading, exaggerated, and even false. Shulsky has publicly declared that Strauss shaped his approach to politics in general and intelligence in particular. He tells us that he learned from Strauss that I deception is the norm in politicallife'.5 Shulsky no doubt imbibed Strauss's sense of crisis; and in the context of the perils at hand, what are a few big lies for those who have a grand and noble mission to save Western civilization from the dangers of liberal modernity? Nevertheless, Strauss would have been distressed at Shulsky's injudicious openness. William Kristol, editor of the Weekly Standard, and chairman of 'The Project for the New American Century', in which the neoconservative foreign policy is clearly outlined, was a student of Harvey Mansfield at Harvard, who is another well-known fol­ lower of Strauss. Kristol wrote his doctoral thesis on Machiavelli - a topic that was as dear to Strauss as it was to Mansfield.6 As I show in this book, Strauss denounced Machiavelli as a teacher of evil-but only because he made the mistake of stating the truth about politics in his own name, rather than putting it in the mouths of Sophists, madmen, women - or anyone who would not be believed? Strauss endorsed Machiavellian tactics in politics - not just lies and the manipulation of public opinion, but every manner of unscrupulous conduct necessary to keep the masses in astate of heightened alert, afraid for their lives and their families, and therefore willing to sacrifice themselves for the nation. For Strauss as for Machiavelli, only the constant threat of a common enemy can save a people from becoming soft, pam­ pered, and depraved. And if no enemy can be found, one must be invented. It is worth noting that the best Straussians, those who fuHy understand Strauss, are the most dangerous and most strident of the neoconservatives; but not all neoconservatives are Straussians. xii 5 traussians in Power Even though Irving Kristo!, the father of neoconservatism, acknowledges Strauss as the greatest influence on his thought,8 most neoconservatives have not read Strauss, and those who have read hirn are not likely to have understood him.
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