Issue #48

Abstract: In March 1963, during the third annual University of Detroit Convocation, Leo Strauss delivered two lectures — The Crisis of Our Time and The Crisis of Political Philosophy. As Strauss himself noted, these two lectures are, in fact, one lecture dedicated to examining the political challenges faced by Western nations and their theoretical foundations. Strauss argued that the root cause of the crisis of the West lies in the crisis of the declared goal of Western societies — the achievement of universal peace and prosperity. This crisis, he contended, stems from fundamentally flawed or inadequate conceptions of the political and its possibilities, developed by modern political philosophy. To identify a path toward resolving both the crisis of the West and the crisis of political philosophy, Strauss proposed returning to earlier philosophical conceptions of the political — those found in classical political philosophy. Considering his audience — students of a Catholic university — Strauss chose Aristotle’s political philosophy as his central theme. He demonstrated that, despite common dismissal, Aristotle’s philosophy has not only retained its value but, when properly understood, can offer guidance in addressing these crises.