Leo Strauss and the Recovery of Natural Philosophizing

<p><b>Examines how Leo Strauss sought to recover the question of nature which he saw as inseparable from genuine philosophy since its inception in ancient Greece.</b></p><p>Among the political philosophers of the twentieth century Leo Strauss is usually singled out for his attempt to revitalize the ancient approach to counter the relativism of both historicism and positivism. It is less commonly underscored however that the cornerstone of this attempt is the recovery of the question of nature which he regarded as inseparable from genuine philosophy since its inception in ancient Greece. <i>Leo Strauss and the Recovery of Natural Philosophizing</i> addresses such a theme focusing on the theoretical presuppositions that Strauss found at the basis of the acquired inability to raise the question of nature. Prominent among these is the encounter between philosophy and revelation which due to their conceptual incompatibility leads to a condition Strauss metaphorically described as a second 'unnatural' cave characterized by insurmountable prejudices rather than appearance and opinion. These however are the starting point of genuine philosophy in the Platonic first 'natural' cave which has to be regained by way of historical deconstruction of the presuppositions of the second cave if the natural philosophizing embodied by Socratic dialectics is to be reactivated.</p>