Harvey Mansfield on Leo Strauss and the Straussians

Conversations with Bill Kristol

News, Society & Culture, Government, Politics

4.7 • 1.7K Ratings

🗓️ 11 May 2015

⏱️ 97 minutes

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Summary

The fourth conversation in our ongoing series with the distinguished Harvard political philosopher considers the political philosopher Leo Strauss (1899 - 1973) and the "Straussian school" of philosophy he founded. Mansfield and Kristol discuss key themes in Strauss's work, including esoteric writing, the quarrel between Ancients and Moderns, and the theological-political problem. Mansfield also reflects on three outstanding students of Strauss: Seth Benardete, Allan Bloom, and Ernest Fortin.

Transcript

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0:00.0	And the Welcome to conversations. I'm Bill Crystal and I'm very pleased to have with me today
0:18.9	Harvey Mansfield my teacher. Good to see you. To discuss his teacher.
0:24.0	Leo Strauss, who wasn't actually your teacher, however,
0:27.0	as an undergraduate or graduate student.
0:30.0	And I noticed in the acknowledgments in your first book,
0:33.7	which was your doctoral dissertation,
0:35.0	you thank various Harvard professors,
0:37.2	and then you thank Leo Strauss.
0:38.6	And so how did that happen?
0:40.9	Well, I certainly had to thank my hero, which was Sam Beer, I later wrote a book all about
0:46.0	him called Manliness.
0:47.0	He was the most manly man I ever met, and so he deserved to have a book in his honor.
0:53.4	But my real teacher was not he or not William Eandel Elliot, whom I also mentioned,
0:58.8	but Leo Strauss.
1:00.4	I developed an acquaintance with Leo Strauss. It began by meeting Harry Jaffa in Columbus,
1:11.2	Harry Jaffa was one of Strouse's students,
1:14.8	and he was an assistant professor
1:16.3	in my father's department of political science.
1:18.8	My father was the chairman of the Ohio State
1:21.3	Political Science Department, and Harry Jaffa was in there and
1:26.0	so Harry as a high school student this would be about 1948 49 took me under his wing and introduced me to political theory.
1:38.0	I'd had a previous introduction from David Spitz, who was a liberal,
	...

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