The Stakes: Defending Leo Strauss ft. Michael Millerman

In this edition of The Stakes, Michael Anton, lecturer in politics and research fellow at Hillsdale College’s Kirby Center, and a Claremont senior fellow, is joined by Michael Millerman of the Millerman School. The two discuss the teachings of the Claremont Institute's ideological lodestar, Leo Strauss. They also discuss how and to what extent Strauss' teachings, and those of other twentieth century German philosophers, remain relevant today in our crumbling republic despite an active attempt by elites to vilify them. Listeners who would like to hear even more about German philosophers can take advantage of an exclusive 25% discount to the Millerman School by using the code "STAKES" at signup! #philosophy #millermanschool #strauss

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[JOHNSMITH-verq]

I'd absolutely love to hear a regular monthly pol phil discussion between you two.

[gerhardrohne]

leo strauss got his recomendation for his first trip out of germany from carl schmitt (adviser to the rockefeller stipemds in germany...)

[zenden]

What a fantastic deep dive conversation, thank-you very much gentlemen. 👏👏👏👏

[smallscreentv]

One of the biggest problems with contemporary higher education is the insistence on quoting large numbers of references which means almost nobody reads entire books and therefore rekies on quotes or other peoples summaries of their works and main points.

[saimbhat]

Leo Strauss belongs to 1200AD along with al-farabi and rambam. His "esoteric" shananighans are just mere lofty pretensions in the modern world.

[landofthesilverpath]

Did Strauss read Giovanni Gentile? Did he have an opinion on Neo-Hegelianism?

[dooglesw]

My primary problem with Strauss is that he interprets every philosopher in the same way. Every philosopher, except a handful of extremely religious ones which are ignored by Straussians, were nihilistic atheists who did not believe in morality. In other words, every philosophy agrees with what the Straussian himself believes. Straussians claim that only they do the "careful reading" of old philosophers, but that isn't true anymore. And when every philosopher "esoterically" agrees with you about everything, I start to wonder whether they aren't just imposing their own beliefs on the texts.

[PeterShieldsukcatstripey]

Strauss sounds like a fascinating man. A conservative Jew - wow. Even E Michael Jones might have to pause.

[PeterShieldsukcatstripey]

According to Strauss, reductio ad Hitlerum is a form of ad hominem, ad misericordiam, or a fallacy of irrelevance. The suggested rationale is one of guilt by association. It is a tactic often used to derail arguments because such comparisons tend to distract and anger the opponent.

Reductio ad Hitlerum - Wikipedia

[brianbob]

this is strange. i never took a class on Nietzsche, just read/listened to his books a zillion times, he is clearly not on the left. I got to try and learn about left interpretations of Nietzsche now

[gerhardrohne]

your slapdash dismissal of carl schmitt is not up to your own proclaimed standards of philosophying...( by the way, schmitt is for hundred years a world-event, while strauss ist just of interest to americans digesting their politics since the seventees)

[brianbob]

i don't think it is right to say we should disregard the politics of the followers of a thinker, they are a type of evidence that can help point to the likely implications of following that thinker.

[theironsheik]

Are the neocons making a comeback or what?

[mariakatariina]

There is no legitimate defence for the misguider. He was against the Holy Spirit. Pthyi. INRI X

[ronaldmcnuggets]

If your country is "an idea" or belief in a creed and people reject that but you have no mechanism to exclude them from political power they can take over your system. Of course, this is why the the Straussian classical liberals lost to bio leninism