The Foreword to the new book “The Wisdom of Our Ancestors: Conservative Humanism and the Western Tradition.”
A Recipe for Talking about Leo Strauss: Ingredients for a totally typical, predictable conversation
September 12, 2013
1. Preheat the conversation by saying that Leo Strauss does his best work interpreting texts; his own stuff is not as good.
2. Stir in mention that we should appreciate Strauss’s defense of natural law and absolute truth, even if he simply accuses everyone else of historicism.
3. Combine acknowledgement that you appreciate Strauss’s contribution to Western political philosophy.
4. Slice the Straussians into the three schools including: East-coast, West-coast, and Mid-Western Straussians.
5. Spread mention that American Straussians are the only ones that count since the American founding represents the best regime possible, but sometimes interesting things go on in Toronto, Canada.
6. Mix in some caveats about being against cultish intellectual circles and add that you are not so elitist as to believe everything about esotericism since that would be un-American.
7. Serve cold by declaring, “But I am not a Straussian.”
Congratulations on learning to bake a conversation by following the recipe of Standard Straussian Orthodoxy!
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