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3. Dr. Leo Strauss on Hobbes
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9 3 = Dr. Leo Strauss on Hobbes The renewed attention which, in recent years, the writings of Thomas Hobbes have received is noteworthy, in the first place, because it is not to be attributed to the present state of political arrangements of Western Europe, but to a fresh and scholarly interest in the writings of a man whose political philosophy is independent of and infinitely more important than his political opinions: this reexamination of Hobbes is the work, not of politicians in search of a creed or publicists in search of an excuse, but of historians and philosophers. And secondly, it is noteworthy because it has already laid the foundation for a reinterpretation of those writings which shows incomparably profounder insight and greater knowledge than went to the construction of the hitherto accepted interpretation. To a generation which did not find foolish the opinion of Vaughan that “so far as the vital development of political thought is concerned, the Leviathan remained, and deserved to remain, without influence and without fruit; a fantastic hybrid, incapable of propagating its kind,” the announcement of “the epoch-making significance of Hobbes’s political philosophy,” the judgement that upon Hobbes’s break with tradition “all later moral and political thought is expressly or tacitly based,” the view (in short) that Hobbes was not grossly in error when he said that “civil philosophy is no older than my own book, De Cive,” may at first be shocking. But this certainly is the 142 Dr. Leo Strauss on Hobbes direction in which the recent studies of Hobbes’s work is leading us. And even if some modification of this revolutionary conclusion should, in the end, be necessary, those who are responsible for suggesting it have at least broken down a thoroughly misleading tradition and have already given us the materials and the opportunity for a far more intelligent valuation of Hobbes’s writings than was hitherto possible. There remains much to be done; but the achievement already is great. This reinterpretation of Hobbes’s philosophy is not, of course, the preserve of a single writer; many have had a hand in it. But it is safe to say that the work of Dr. Leo Strauss is of the first importance. In 1932, a paper entitled “Quelques Remarques sur la Science Politique de Hobbes,” which appeared in Recherches Philosophiques, where among much else that is informative and suggestive he makes clear Hobbes’s true place in the history of liberalism, was his first contribution. But his recently published book on the basis and genesis of Hobbes’s political philosphy1 shows him to be a leader in this work whom we may follow with profit and with confidence, if also (as we must follow all leaders in those matters) with some caution. I propose in this essay to examine his book, not with all the thoroughness it merits, but with some care, because I regard it as the most original book on Hobbes which has appeared for many years. And before going further, in case what I shall have to say might be taken to indicate a different view, I must express at once my admiration for the book as a whole, for the careful scholarship which has gone to make it, for the great subtlety of its argument, and for the brilliance of its exposition. It has the rare quality of presenting an original thesis and supporting it with an apparently conclusive argument, and at the same time of provoking thought and criticism ; and even in those parts where it appears more ingenious than sound, its ingenuity is stimulating and never misleading. 1. The Political Philosophy of Hobbes; Its Basis and Genesis, by Leo Strauss. Translated from the German manuscript by Elsa M. Sinclair, M.A., Ph.D., Oxford, 1936. [3.81.30.41] Project MUSE (2024-03-28 21:16 GMT) Dr. Leo Strauss on Hobbes 143 For one who has so much that is new to propound, Dr. Strauss retains an admirable sense of proportion, only occasionally appearing to press more than is reasonable out of his material in order to prove his thesis or to give undue weight to his favourite conjectures. If the book has a fault, it lies in the very conclusiveness of the case it presents. The author occasionally protests a trifle too much, but this springs simply from the enthusiasm and conviction with which he writes. But, in general, nothing could exceed the care...