Leo Strauss (1899-1973)

Author(s): Alexander Altmann

Source: Proceedings of the American Academy for Jewish Research, Vol. 41/42 (1973 - 1974),
pp. xxxiii-xxxvi
Published by: American Academy for Jewish Research
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3622319 .
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 NECROLOGY

LEO STRAUSS
(1899-1973)

Leo Strauss,whodiedon October18, 1973in Annapolis, Mary-

land,was bornin Kirchhain, Hesse(Germany) on September 20,
1899. Aftergraduation fromgymnasium in 1917 and wartime
servicein theGermanarmyhe studiedat theuniversities ofMar-
burg(where he struck a
up lifelong friendshipwith the classicist,
mathematician andphilosopher JacobKlein),Hamburg (wherehe
took his degreeof Doctor of Philosophy underErnstCassirer
in 1921),and Freiburg (where he did post-doctoralworkunder
EdmundHusserlandHerrmann Ebbinghaus, and attendedlectures
by MartinHeidegger). Judging from"A Givingof Accounts"
jointlybyhimand JacobKleinin 1970(TheCollege,Annapolis,
April1970),Ebbinghaus introduced himto Hobbes,and Heideg-
ger'sinterpretation of the beginning of Aristotle'sMetaphysics
taughthimtheart of how to treata philosophical text.It also
seemsthatitwashisfriend Kleinwhoconvinced himoftheneces-
sity to turnto classical
philosophy, especiallyPlato,forguidance.
The themeof ancients versusmoderns neverceasedto dominate
histhinking. Yet hisprimary interestin thoseformative years,he
confessed, was in theology, and heretheimpetuscamefromthe
resurgence oftheological concerns intheperiodafterWorldWarI.
It is significant
thathe visitedFranzRosenzweig afterhisstayin
Freiburg, andthathe dedicated hisfirstbookto him.His brilliant
academiccareerstarted withtheappointment to a researchfellow-
shipat the BerlinAcademyforthe Scienceof Judaism, a post
he heldfrom1925to 1930.In 1932he leftGermany. He spent
someyearsas a Rockefeller fellowin thesocialsciencesin France
andEngland.In Parishe metAlexandre Kojeveandin Cambridge
he becameacquaintedwithErnestBarker.His stayin England
xxxiii
facilitated
the translation,fromthe Germanmanuscript, of his
studyof thepoliticalphilosophy of Hobbes.The book appeared
in Oxfordin 1936(latereditions:Chicago,1963,1966),and made
himmorewidelyknownthanhisprevious Afterhis
publications.
immigration to theUnitedStatesin 1938hejoinedtheGraduate
Facultyof Politicaland Social Scienceof the New Schoolfor
Social Researchin New York.His book On Tyranny was written
during his tenure of office
there.In 1949 he became a professor
of politicalscienceat theUniversityof Chicago,and in 1959he
wasmadetheRobertM. Hutchins ServiceProfessor
Distinguished
of PoliticalScience.Upon hisretirement in 1967he was awarded
the titleof Professor Emeritus.He continued to teach,firstat
Claremont Men's College,and lateras thefirstScottBuchanan
Distinguished Scholarin ResidenceofSt.John'sCollegein Anna-
the
polis,Maryland, position he held at thetimeof his death.
He was a fellowoftheAmerican AcademyofArtsand Sciences;
of theAmericanAcademyforJewishResearch;and a member
oftheExecutive Committee oftheLeo BaeckInstitute, NewYork.
JosephCropseyeditedAncientsand Moderns;essayson thetradi-
tion of politicalphilosophyin honorof Leo Strauss (New York,
1964)."The Achievement of Leo Strauss"wasevaluatedbyfour
of hisdisciples(WalterBerns,Herbert J. Storing,
HarryV. Jaffa
and Werner J. Dannhauser) in theNationalReviewof December
7, 1973.
Strauss'literaryoutputwas extremely richin important works
and it maybe dividedintotwomajorsectionscomprising (a) the
writingsconcerned withpoliticalsciencein general,
and (b) those
dealing with the aspects
theologico-political of Judaism in par-
ticular.Yet thereis no strictdemarcation linebetweenthetwo
areas. His Die Religionskritik
Spinozasals GrundlageseinerBibel-
wissenschaft (1930; Spinoza's Critiqueof Religion,1965) clearly
belongsto both.It led himto Hobbeson theone hand,and to
Maimonides on theother,as he himselfreported;and thesubject
had arousedhisinterestbecauseSpinoza'sTractatuswasthe"clas-
sic document of theattackon orthodoxy withinJudaism"and,
at the same time,offered of testingthe degreeof
a possibility
XXXiv
successor failureoftheEnlightenment in itseffort to undermine
all orthodoxy,Jewishand Christian. Persecution
Similarly, andthe
Artof Writing a
(1952)presentedgenerally valid thesisdeveloped
chieflyfroman analysisof Jewish sources.The discovery of eso-
tericismin Maimonides and others owed a greatdeal to Strauss'
studyof Lessing'stheological writings,as he likedto pointout,
and it is quiteobviousthatJewishand non-Jewish elements of
thoughtfruitfully mingledin his mind. A profound underlying
concern foran understanding ofwhatwasinvolved inreligionand
philosophy was responsiblefortheremarkable unityof purpose
and innerconsistency ofall he wrote.Nothingwas morealiento
himthanaridcompartmentalization.
Worksofhisthatmaybe listedunderrubric (a) areThepolitical
philosophyof Hobbes; its basis and its genesis(1936, 1963, 1966);
NaturalRightandHistory(1953, 1963); On Tyranny, rev.ed. (1963);
Thoughts on Machiavelli (1958); What is politicalphilosophyand
otherStudies (1959); Historyof politicalphilosophy,ed. by Leo
StraussandJoseph (1963,1969);Thecityandman(1964);
Cropsey
Socrates and Aristophanes
(1966); Xenophon'sSocratic Discourse
(1970); Xenophon'sSocrates (1972). A book on Plato's Laws is
scheduled to appearposthumously.
Thewritings thatcomeunderrubric (b) area seriesofpenetrating
studiesin Jewishphilosophy. As researchfellowat the Berlin
Academy heproduced, inadditiontohisworkon Spinoza,volumes
II and III.1 of theAcademy-sponsored JubileeEditionof Moses
Mendelssohn's WorksjointlywithFritzBamberger (1931; 1932),
and he completed in 1937volume111.2,long afterhe had left
Germany. Thisvolume,whichcontains hismasterful introduction
to, and fully annotated critical
edition of, Mendelssohn's last
writings (thoseconcerned withLessing'sallegedpantheism), had
to waitforitspublicationuntil1974.In 1935hisprovocative book
Philosophie undGesetzoffered a newperspective in theinterpreta-
tionof Maimonides in opposition to JuliusGuttmann's, and an
articleofhisin theMonatsschrift of 1937discussedMaimonides'
doctrineof Providence in theincisiveand probingmannerone
had learnedto expectofhim.Maimonides continued to fascinate
xxxv
him,as is evidenced
byhisessayon theliterary
character
of the
Guide in Essays on Maimonides,ed. by Salo W. Baron (1941;
1966)and theintroductory essayhe wroteforthenewtranslation
of theGuideby ShlomoPines(1963).So muchhad he immersed
himselfin theattempt to disentangle Maimonides' presumed eso-
tericismthathediscovered strangekeysandoften abstruseanswers.
The comparison withBeethoven's lastquartetsmaynotbe com-
pletelyout of place.One findsa similarwilfulness of exegesisin
his lectureJerusalem and Athens(The CityCollegeNew York,
1967).The politicalorientationpredominates in twootherstudies
ofhisthatarenotdirectly relatedto Maimonides, viz."On Abra-
vanel'sphilosophical tendency and politicalteaching"in Isaac
Abravanel, ed. by J. B. Trendand H. Loewe (1937) and "The
Law of Reason in theKuzari,"a magisterial pieceof workthat
was publishedin vol. XIII (1943)of theseProceedings. Mention
shouldalso be madeofhisintroductory essayto SimonKaplan's
English translationofHermann Cohen'sReligion ofReason(1972).
of
Cohen'scritique Spinoza had challenged at thebeginning
him
ofhiscareerto reexamine thelatter's attackon orthodox religion,
and in Philosophie undGesetzhe had quotedCohen'sutterance
aboutMaimonides beingmoreofa Platonist thanan Aristotelian,
thereby claiming Cohen's support forhis politicalinterpretation
of Maimonides' Guide. Introducingthe Religionof Reason and,
moreso, its authorto Englishreaderswas morethanan act of
piety.It meantthatthecircleof his life'scoursewas complete.
ThedeathofLeo Strausshasdeprived American science
political
of one of its mostdistinguished teachers.It has
and influential
removed fromtheworldof Jewish scholarshipone of itsnoblest
andmostcultivated minds,a rarespirit
oftrulyphilosophicalethos
and profound fortheJewish
reverence tradition.

Altmann
Alexander

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