Leo Strauss and the politics of American empire [electronic resource] /
Anne Norton.
- Yale University Press, c2004.
- 1 online resource (xiv, 235 p.)
Includes index.
Who is Leo Strauss? what is a Straussian? -- The lion and the ass -- Decline into the west -- Closing the American mind -- Getting the natural right -- Persecution and the art of writing -- Ancients and moderns -- The statesman -- On tyranny -- Conservatism abandoned -- The Sicilian expedition -- Athens and Jerusalem -- The School of Baghdad.
The teachings of political theorist Leo Strauss (1899-1973) have recently received new attention, as political observers have become aware of the influence Strauss's students have had in shaping conservative agendas of the Bush administration - including the war on Iraq. This provocative book examines Strauss's ideas and the ways in which they have been appropriated, or misappropriated, by senior policymakers. Anne Norton, a political theorist trained by some of Strauss's most famous students, is well equipped to write on Strauss and Straussians. She tells three interwoven narratives: the story of Leo Strauss, a Jewish German-born emigre, who carried European philosophy into a new world; the story of the philosophic lineage that came from Leo Strauss; and the story of how America has been made a moral battleground by the likes of Paul Wolfowitz, Leon Kass, Carnes Lord, and Irving Kristol - Straussian conservatives committed to an American imperialism they believe will usher in a new world order.
Conservatism--United States. Political science--Philosophy. Political science--History. Conservatisme--États-Unis. Idées politiques. Idées politiques--Histoire. POLITICAL SCIENCE--History & Theory. Neoconservatisme.
United States--Intellectual life--20th century. États-Unis--Vie intellectuelle--20e siècle.