Paul wrote:Hi Pilgrim's Son and welcome to Textkit!
I would encourage you to ask questions in the "First Greek Book" forum. This may lighten the burdensome aspects of learning Greek.
In re Strauss: his "return to the ancients" was motivated chiefly by his confrontation with the relativism of our age. His thought is often concerned with the question, "Why is the West worth saving?".
Interesting aside: Strauss was a good friend of Alexander Kojevnikov, better known as Alexander Kojeve. Kojeve was a very well-known Marxist and Hegel scholar. I believe I have this anecdote correct: sometime after the student riots in Paris 1968, several revolutionary German students approached Kojeve and asked him what they could do to further their revolutionary vision. He replied, "Learn Greek".
Cordially,
Paul
I find most of the questions I have get answered by going through the threads that are already there! Your invitation may make me less reticent to ask for help if I need it though, so, thanks.
Maybe those students should have taken Kojeve's advice. Looking at the intellectuals that came from that scene like Baudrillard and Paul Virilio, what they represent hasn't seem to gone too far in opposing what, say, the "neo-conservative" Straussians represent.
As I read Strauss I find myself increasingly critical of his portrayals of modern philosophy and politics. What I mean by "politics" is, well, for example, he'll describe Heidegger as being "of his time." And that time being one of "liberal democracy." At other times Strauss will mention the half-truths that float from textbook to textbook yet find popularity because of their status of being in these widely read books. Yet he seems to take the half-true idea of "liberal democracy" and still assign it to say the Weimar Republic and the 20th century USA. I wouldn't say these are textbook examples: they still contain great centralization and regulization of the economies, differing superficially but not fundamentally from the "command" economies of "communist" states. I think that, for example, is an important aspect.
Anyway, when Strauss talks about modern philosophy being a permeating influence on all of us in the modern age, that's where he really hooks me. That we must consider modern philosophy with regards to the philosophy of the past without prejuding it by looking down upon it from a tower of "progress." Thinking of that and seeing the areas where I'm critical of him now, makes me just want to study more. Because it seems only by meeting him with one's own knowledge of modern philosophy in contrast to ancient and medieval philosophy can Strauss really make any sense. And that's where me learning Greek and coming to this site comes in I guess.