[.uk] Leo Strauss On Plato's Symposium (ISBN 0226776859)

Take Professor Strauss's Class:
This is a remarkable book. It consists of transcriptions of the lectures given by Leo Strauss in his 1959 University of Chicago course on Plato's political philosophy. The course was devoted to the study of Plato's Symposium, but Strauss of course discusses several other dialogues that he suggests are related to the Symposium. The lectures read differently than the books and essays Professor Strauss prepared for publication. They are somewhat more open; they go somewhat more slowly through the material; they are perhaps somewhat less apparently ironic. But this only begins to hint at the special riches of the access this book affords to Professor Strauss's classroom.

Stunning clarity:
Symposium is my favorite dialogue and as such I've read a number of commentaries (Rosen, Allen and Dover). This one is very special. Strauss has a reach, a clarity and an elegance that is stunning. Let me give you an example. Strauss claims that Aristophanes' The Frogs was the model for the Symposium. Never thought of that before, but when you think about it, it's obvious. Yes, a very powerful idea. This level is sustained throughout the book. You may not agree with everything Strauss says, but even where you disagree you will find him profitable.

Works like majic on the mind:
This is a different sort of Leo Strauss book. It's not a lecture given by him, and then edited for publication; rather, it is a transcription of a graduate class at U of Chicago in 1959. Yet despite this distance from Strauss' own hand- it reads as a rich and telling tale about philosophy and the possibilty of it. Strauss mentions early on that even the most average novelist, compared to the contemporary social scientist, produces a better insight to the human condition. Yet Strauss exceeds each craft in the course of this lecture. The amazing richness, touches of braod insight on a variety of topics, historical imagination and speculation, political comment and human awareness which leaks across the page are so satisfying and interesting, the book immediately stands out as significant, enjoyable, important, and worth re-reading as any classic piece of literature. Suspend all preconceptions and just float into this work; take it a page at a time- stop and wonder on the words- a careful reader will have to, for the surprising, unique, complex, complicated and shocking punctuate the work. An example is on page 94, when Strauss comments that Marx realized the bisexual nature of man had to be overcome if true communism would ever come to pass. Bisexual nature of man? What does this mean- how does it relate to Marx? The penetration and insight of Strauss on the material is so deft, it sparks insight to many other Platonic works, contemporary politics and the history of political philosophy. The uniqueness of Strauss' take on the Symposium is so daring, it will undoubtly lead one to reconsider their conception of Ancient Greek history, Platonic cosmology and the nature of mankind. Truly a priceless book.

The Founder of the Neo-Con movement...:
The sad thing is that today many people use the word "Neo-Con" as some sort of movement that involves George Bush. The sad thing is that 95% of the world that uses the word "Neo-Con" has never read a book by Dr. Leo Strauss. What ever your view on Neo-Cons, its important to hear it from the horses mouth. Dr. Leo Strauss is the founder of the Neo-Con movement and it is a movement of reverting back to political philosophy. Many who are in the current administration were students of Dr. Strauss at the University of Chicago. The most amazing thing about Dr. Strauss is that there is no writings about his opinions of current (Well at least current during his time, he died in 73') political situations. He never told his opinions but what he did, which is something teachers should always do,. was present the material and show many views of its position. This is why people like Francis Fukuyama, a Neo-Con writer and the author of "The End of History and the Last Man" (A very important book) were against the Iraq war. Yes it is true. Neo-Cons were against the Iraq war, which means that you need to read some of Dr. Strauss's works. A smarter citizen will only make this world a better place, and I wont have to hear all of these people using words that have no connection to the situation, like the word "Neo-Cons"...