Legal Commentary

Straussians:

By Todd Zywicki

Mike Rappaport has a nifty little post (taking off an earlier post by Tom Smith) on Leo Strauss and the Straussians.  I?ve never fully understood the intramural battle among the Straussians, but this seems like a useful roadmap.  I?ll confess that I wasn?t even aware that there was a Midwestern Straussian school.

I know little about Strauss and the Straussians (although, as the expression goes, some of my best friends are Straussians).  But I have long been interested in Strauss from an outsider?s perspective.  One of my favorite professors in college (Roger Masters) was a Straussian.  I learned an awful lot from him (especially on how to read critically).  I rarely agreed with him, perhaps because I am an enthusiast for modernity (see Rappaport?s summary above).

Now maybe someone can explain to me the disagreements among the Austrian economists, the Objectivists, and the People?s Front of Judea (versus the Popular People?s Front) then I will have all wisdom.  On second thought...

Full post as published by The Volokh Conspiracy on January 04, 2010 (boomark / email).