Commentary

• Persecution and the Art of Writing

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  Strauss, Leo. Persecution and the Art of Writing. Chicago: University Of Chicago Press, 1988.
  From the Publisher: “The essays collected in Persecution and the Art of Writing all deal with one problem—the relation between philosophy and politics. Here, Strauss sets forth the thesis that many philosophers, especially political philosophers,… More

• “Notes on a Neglected Masterpiece: Spinoza and the Science of Hermeneutics”

  - Curley, Edwin. “Notes on a Neglected Masterpiece: Spinoza and the Science of Hermeneutics.” Spinoza: The Enduring Questions (2001): 64–97.
  Excerpt: “In “Spinoza: Scientist and Theorist of Scientific Method,”[1] David Savan has raised two very important questions: 1) what is the place and importance of Spinoza’s work as a practising scientist? and 2) what did Spinoza think… More

• “I Durst Not Write So Boldly’ or, How to Read Hobbes’s Theological-political Treatise”

  - Curley, Edwin. “‘I Durst Not Write So Boldly’ or, How to Read Hobbes’s Theological-political Treatise.” Hobbes e Spinoza, Scienza e Politica, Pp497–593 (1992).
  Excerpt: “One of the most tantalizing anecdotes in Aubrey’s not so brief life of Hobbes concerns Hobbes’ (alleged) reaction to Spinoza’s Theological-Political Trea­tise (TTP).  As recently emended, the entire passage runs as follows:… More

• Leo Strauss on Moses Mendelssohn by Martin Yaffe

  - Strauss, Leo. Leo Strauss on Moses Mendelssohn. Edited by Martin D. Yaffe. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2012.  
  From the Publisher: Leo Strauss on Moses Mendelssohn is a superbly annotated translation of ten introductions written by Strauss to a multi-volume critical edition of Mendelssohn’s work. Commissioned in Weimar Germany in the 1920s, the project was… More