Is  Leo Strauss truly an intellectual forebear of neoconservatism and a powerful force in shaping Bush administration foreign policy? The Truth about Leo Strauss puts this question to rest, revealing for the first time how the popular media came to perpetuate such an oversimplified view of such a complex and wide-ranging philosopher. More important, it corrects our perception of Strauss, providing the best general introduction available to the political thought of this misunderstood figure. 

Catherine and Michael Zuckert—both former students of Strauss—guide readers here to a nuanced understanding of how Strauss’s political thought fits into his broader philosophy. Challenging the ideas that Strauss was an inflexible conservative who followed in the footsteps of Nietzsche, Heidegger, and Carl Schmitt, the Zuckerts contend that Strauss’s signature idea was the need for a return to the ancients. This idea, they show, stemmed from Strauss’s belief that modern thought, with its relativism and nihilism, undermines healthy politics and even the possibility of real philosophy. Identifying this view as one of Strauss’s three core propositions—America is modern, modernity is bad, and America is good—they conclude that Strauss was a sober defender of liberal democracy, aware of both its strengths and its weaknesses. 

The Zuckerts finish, appropriately, by examining the varied work of Strauss’s numerous students and followers, revealing the origins—rooted in the tensions within his own thought—oftheir split into opposing camps. Balanced and accessible, The Truth about Leo Strauss is a must-read for anyone who wants to more fully comprehend this enigmatic philosopher and his much-disputed legacy.

作者简介：

凯瑟琳·扎科特（Catherine Zuckert）列奥•斯特劳斯学派重要成员。现为美国圣母大学政治学系教授，《政治学评论》主编。著有《自然权利与美国想象》（Natural Right and the American Imagination）、《后现代的柏拉图们》（Postmodern Platos）、《柏拉图的哲学家们》（Plato’s Philosophers）等，获誉1990年美国出版商协会哲学宗教类最佳图书、2009年霍金斯奖最佳学术著作等。

迈克尔·扎科特（ Michael Zuckert） 列奥•斯特劳斯学派重要成员。1974年取得芝加哥大学博士学位，现为美国圣母大学政治学系教授、主任。研究领域包括政治哲学、美国宪法与理论、美国政治思想等。另著有《自然权利的共和国》（The Natural Rights Republic: Studies in the Foundation of the American Political Tradition）、《开创自由主义：论洛克的政治哲学》（Launching Liberalism: On Lockean Political Philosophy）、《自然权利与新共和主义》（Natural Rights and the New Republicanism）等。

译者简介：

宋菲菲，毕业于华东师范大学中文系，现从事英语教学工作。