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Straussophobia
Defending Leo Strauss and Straussians against Shadia Drury and Other Accusers
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Publisher:
2009
Summary
Leo Strauss and his students have long been accused of mendacity, elitism, and militarism, but the Iraq War has prompted unprecedented levels of caustic and inaccurate denunciations. Inappropriate criticisms have issued from artists (Tim Robbins), politicians (Ron Paul), journalists (Joe Klein), and even highly lauded scholars such as Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., Gordon Wood, Douglas Massey, Stephen Holmes, Anne Norton, Shadia Drury, Sheldon Wolin, John Pocock, John Yolton, Nicholas Xenos, and Brian Leiter. In Straussophobia, Peter Minowitz provides a methodical and detailed critique of the major offenders, especially of Drury, who maintains that Strauss established a 'covert tyranny' that would keep the Western world 'mired in perpetual war.' In replying to such charges_and to various authors who belittle Strauss's contributions as a scholar_Minowitz highlights the imaginative yet meticulous manner in which Strauss interpreted Thucydides, Plato, Xenophon, Farabi, Machiavelli, Hobbes, Locke, and Carl Schmitt. Straussophobia also provides both a comprehensive assessment of Strauss's 1933 letter that commended 'fascist, authoritarian, and imperial' principles, and a compelling account of Strauss's influence, or lack of influence, on neoconservative promoters of the Iraq War (e.g., Paul Wolfowitz, Richard Perle, and Lewis Libby). The book likewise breaks new ground in employing diversity discourse to explain and combat the bigotry and buffoonery that pervade attacks against Strauss and Straussians_and in drawing on Strauss to illuminate the distortions that mar some widely-used arguments for affirmative action.
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Bibliographic data
Copyright year
2009
ISBN-Print
978-0-7391-1951-8
ISBN-Online
978-0-7391-4019-2
Publisher
Lexington, Lanham
Language
English
Pages
328
Product type
Book Titles
Table of contents
ChapterPages
Contents No access
Abbreviations No access
Note to the Reader No access
Acknowledgments No access
Introduction: Persecution and the Art of Writhing No access Pages 1 - 18
Chapter 01. All Hate Leo Strauss No access Pages 19 - 52
Chapter 02. “Careless Scholarship and a Tendency to Quote out of Context”: Early Drury on Strauss, Locke, and Xenophon No access Pages 53 - 100
Chapter 03. The American Right, Pious Frauds, and Secret Kingship No access Pages 101 - 140
Chapter 04. “A Great Enemy of Democracy”?Strauss on Plato’s Republic, Germany, and Empire No access Pages 141 - 178
Chapter 05. “Mired in Perpetual War”: Confrontations with Cyber-Age Vilification No access Pages 179 - 222
Chapter 06. “Untold Mischief” and “Enigmatic Works”: Appreciating Strauss on Machiavelli and Modernity No access Pages 223 - 260
Chapter 07. From the Peloponnesus to Iraq—and Michigan No access Pages 261 - 302
Works Cited: Select List No access Pages 303 - 316
