A New Politics for Philosophy

Perspectives on Plato, Nietzsche, and Strauss

George A. Dunn, Mango Telli

• Publisher: Lexington Books
• Year: 2022
• Edition: 1
• eBook ISBN:
  9781978754768
• Topic: Philosophy
• Subtopic: Ancient & Classical Philosophy

A New Politics for Philosophy: Perspectives on Plato, Nietzsche, and Strauss presents meticulous readings of key philosophical works of towering figures from both the classical and modern intellectual traditions: Protagoras, Aeschylus, Xenophon, Plato, Nietzsche, and Leo Strauss. Inspired by the scholarship of Laurence Lampert, this international group of scholars explores questions of the nature or identity of the philosopher. The chapters touch on topics ranging from Plato's Charmides, Aeschylus' Prometheia Trilogy, Xenophon's Hiero or Tyrannicus, Nietzsche's Thus Spoke Zarathustra and Ecce Homo, Nietzsche's Plato, whether Nietzsche thought of himself as a modern-day Socrates, philosophy's relationship to science, the function of the noontide image in the center of Part IV of Nietzsche's Zarathustra, a re-evaluation of the young Nietzsche's break from the spell of Schopenhauer, the dramatic date of the conversation presented in Plato's Republic, Leo Strauss's account of the modern break with classical political philosophy, and Nietzschean environmentalism. The book also includes an interview with Laurence Lampert.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Introduction: Philosophy and Its Poetry
• Interview with Laurence Lampert
• Part I: The Classical Background
• Chapter 1: How to Read Plato with Nietzschean Insights
• Chapter 2: On the Opening of Plato’s Charmides
• Chapter 3: Socrates, Bendis, and Cephalus: Does Plato’s Republic Have an Historical Setting?
• Chapter 4: Recovering the Wisdom of Protagoras: A Reinterpretation of the Prometheia Trilogy
• Chapter 5: What Makes a Wise Man Laugh?: On Eros and Heartache in Xenophon’s Hiero
• Part II: Friedrich Nietzsche
• Chapter 6: Zarathustra’s Crisis of Redemption
• Chapter 7: Nietzsche’s Apology: On Reading Ecce Homo, or, How One Becomes What One Is
• Chapter 8: Lange’s Consolation Prize: Nietzsche’s First Criticisms of Schopenhauer
• Chapter 9: High Noon on Zarathustra’s Mountain: Zarathustra’s Midday Vision
• Chapter 10: Renatured Humans on a Sacred Earth: The Power of Nietzsche’s Ecological Thinking
• Part III: Strauss, Modernity, and Theological-Political Engagements
• Chapter 11: From the Death of God to the Death of Man: What Lampert and Nietzsche Can Teach Catholics—and Straussians—about Environmentalism
• Chapter 12: The Collapsing Ladder of Degree: René Girard and Leo Strauss on the Origins of Modernity
• Bibliography of Works by Laurence Lampert
• Index
• About the Contributors