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Postmodernism and the Art of Writing: The Importance of Leo Strauss for the 21st Century

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 September 2014

Till Kinzel
Affiliation:
TU Berlin and TU Braunschweig
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Summary

One may well wonder what the conjunction of the terms “postmodernism” and “the art of writing” in the title of my paper is meant to convey. Everybody knows, of course, that Leo Strauss advocated a peculiar kind of analyzing and interpreting texts, which means a special art of reading, based on the recognition of the fact that some writers in the non- or preliberal past employed an art of writing. This art of writing, in Strauss's view, is intimately connected to what philosophy is. In fact, the art of writing, also called philosophical esotericism, is, according to Strauss, a logical corollary of the original understanding of philosophy. What is the reason, however, to link the art of writing in Strauss's sense with postmodernism? And why should all this matter in the 21st century, when liberal democracy seems to be safely entrenched in the most important parts of the world? I will leave aside, at least for the time being, the question of the relation of the art of writing to liberal and non-liberal forms of government (or regimes, as Strauss liked to call them). Rather, I first want to concentrate on what is perhaps the primary task for those who want to ensure that Strauss's insights do not become lost or distorted beyond recognition in contemporary academic life. Talking about Strauss and the art of writing within the context of postmodernism or postmodernity shall serve to highlight the extremely strong obstacles and prejudices to Strauss's understanding of philosophy that constitute today's academic common sense (though one can hardly say it is part of a common sense tradition of philosophy).

Type
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Modernity and What Has Been Lost
Considerations on the Legacy of Leo Strauss
, pp. 135 - 146
Publisher: Jagiellonian University Press
Print publication year: 2010

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