After Socrates. Leo Strauss and the Esoteric Irony

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5209/ashf.69785
Keywords: Irony, Plato, Republic, Socrates, Strauss
Agencies: This work was supported by the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities of the Spanish Government under the Grant Juan de la Cierva-formación (2017) thanks to which I have joined the Research Group “Historia y ontología del presente: la perspectiva hispana” (GIPEL) of the Complutense University of Madrid, directed by Prof. José Luis Villacañas Berlanga.

Abstract

Throughout the philosophical tradition that stems from Plato, Socratic irony has represented an enigma that all interpreters of the Platonic dialogues have had to face from different points of view. In this article I aim to present the peculiar Straussian reading of Socratic irony. According to Leo Strauss, Socratic irony is a key element of Plato’s political philosophy, linked to the «logographic necessity» that rules his texts. I will therefore examine the genesis and the main features of Straussian hermeneutics. I will end the article by highlighting the relevance of the esoteric interpretation of Platonic thought as a conceptual tool that responds to the crisis of modern political philosophy.

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Published
2020-09-21
How to Cite
Basili C. (2020). After Socrates. Leo Strauss and the Esoteric Irony. Anales del Seminario de Historia de la Filosofía, 37(3), 473-481. https://doi.org/10.5209/ashf.69785
Issue
Vol. 37 No. 3 (2020)
Section
Estudios

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