How do I start with Leo Strauss?

[Anonymous No.19824883]

Which works should I read first and what are his most important books. When I search for his books online I'm innduated by books and don't know where to start. I also know german so I could read his German works.

[Anonymous No.19824937]

>>19824883
Natural Right and History, The City and Man or Persecution and the Art of Writing to get a sense of his big ideas around anti-historicism, the role of the philosopher and esoteric writing. Paul Gottfried also has a fun critique of Strauss.

[Anonymous No.19826161]

Read Wolfson on reason and revelation (Philo and Spinoza) in Jewish tradition before thinking Strauss is original or representative of the "esoteric" thing.

Natural Right and History is a good starting point. I think Strauss' best work was his work in Germany, not America. He got increasingly idiosyncratic when he became "Straussianism." But it's mostly his students who are morons. If you want a taste of the big famous Straussians, this is a nice read:
https://carnegieendowment.org/2006/02/06/i-am-not-straussian-at-least-i-don-t-think-i-am-pub-17984
>But that's not the reason I never became a Straussian. It was because my father explained to me, as well as to Bloom, of course, that Bloom did not understand Plato. This may seem a bit outrageous to many people today, given Bloom's reputation. But I still think my father was right, and at the time I had no doubt that he was right. My father was and is a great arguer, and as a boy I was inclined to believe that he was right about practically everything. So to me, the Kagan-Bloom debates always looked like a complete wipe-out.

>As best I can recall, their biggest point of contention was whether Plato was just kidding in The Republic. Bloom said he was just kidding. I later learned that this idea--that the greatest thinkers in history never mean what they say and are always kidding--is a core principle of Straussianism. My friend, the late Al Bernstein, also taught history at Cornell. He used to tell the story about how one day some students of his, coming directly from one of Bloom's classes, reported that Bloom insisted Plato did not mean what he said in The Republic. To which Bernstein replied: "Ah, Professor Bloom wants you to think that's what he believes. What he really believes is that Plato did mean what he said."

>Anyway, my father said Plato was not kidding. The argument would go back and forth for hours, and in my memory it always ended with Bloom saying, "We'll have to look at the text," which was a great way of ending the discussion because there was no ancient Greek text of The Republic available in the Statler's lunch room. So, as I saw it, and as my father saw it, that was sort of a surrender.

>>19824937
Gottfried's critique is great.

[Anonymous No.19826676]

>>19826161
Link to Gottfried’s critique?

[Anonymous No.19826683]

Right wingers in my country have just recently discovered Strauss and the Straussians. Should I try to capitalize on this and become a grifter?

[Anonymous No.19826784]

>>19826683
Where do you hail from?

[Anonymous No.19826796]

>>19826784
Poland