This dissertation demonstrates that Leo Strauss, in The City and Man, continues his response to Carl Schmitt�s arguments concerning the affirmation of the political, as outlined by Strauss in his 1932 article on Schmitt�s The Concept of the Political. In affirming the political, Strauss spoke of the 'theologico-political problem', or the question regarding who, or what, should rule society. Strauss outlines six criteria in his 1932 'Comments', which he argues can be found in Schmitt�s The Concept of the Political, as essential for the recovery of the political. In raising the question of the political, both Schmitt and Strauss return to the fundamental question regarding how one should live. In so doing, Strauss rejects Schmitt�s reliance on conflicting faiths and returns to the Socratic description of the best regime (politeia), understood as the best way of life, that is devoted to contemplation, peace and justice. In his argument in The City and Man, Strauss satisfies the six criteria outlined in his 'Comments': (1) the acceptance of moral evil within human nature; (2) the problem of opposition among groups; (3) the possibility of a non-neutral, transprivate obligation; (4) the need for a content that determines the distinction between friend and enemy; (5) a content that leads to a quarrel over the question of 'what is Right?' and (6) that the political must address 'the order of human things from a pure and whole knowledge'. This thesis demonstrates that Strauss�s 1964 book, The City and Man, indirectly addresses Schmitt�s general criteria, using an interpretation of Thucydides�s, Aristotle�s and Plato�s best regime � which is linked to the pursuit of wisdom, or the philosophic life � to provide a transpolitical standard that opposes Schmitt�s insistence on 'concrete' experience, that relies on historical destiny, and faith, as the guide to political life.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ADTP/220680 |
| Date | January 2002 |
| Creators | Dutton, Brett |
| Publisher | University of Sydney. Government and International Relations School of Economics and Political Science |
| Source Sets | Australiasian Digital Theses Program |
| Language | English, en_AU |
| Detected Language | English |
| Rights | Copyright Dutton, Brett;http://www.library.usyd.edu.au/copyright.html |
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