Reopening the Quarrel between the Ancients and the Moderns: Leo Strauss's Critique of Hobbes's “New Political Science”

Abstract

Leo Strauss's greatest project was his attempt to resurrect classical political philosophy by reawakening the quarrel between the ancients and the moderns. This essay illuminates Strauss's view of that quarrel by considering a crucial stage in the development of his understanding of the most important differences between ancient and modern political philosophy. Strauss's critique of Hobbes inThe Political Philosophy of Hobbesculminates in a striking comparison of Hobbes's distinctively modern approach to political philosophy with the approach of Plato and Aristotle. By examining Strauss's critique of Hobbes's “new political science,” this essay brings out the view of the deficiencies in modern political philosophy that led Strauss to conceive of the possibility of a genuine return to classical thought.

A ANÁLISE TEXTUALISTA NA TEORIA POLÍTICA: o Thomas Hobbes de Leo Strauss

“…Em carta enviada a Eric Voegelin, em 29 de abril de 1953, ele afirma que "Hobbes [estabelece] a diferença radical entre o direito natural moderno e o pré-moderno"([1953] 2017 Carta 43, p. 123), portanto, ele funda a filosofia política moderna como desdobramento dessa diferenciação. Sobre a leitura de Strauss de que Hobbes é o fundador da ciência política moderna ver:Stauffer (2007),Burns (2011) e Hilb (2005. Convergimos com a leitura desses intérpretes quando comentam que, para Strauss, as inovações da filosofia política de Hobbes foram imprescindíveis para romper com qualquer vestígio do pensamento antigo como norteador da política a partir do século XVII, inaugurando assim a ciência política moderna.…”