Leo Strauss Transcript Series #: Leo Strauss on Nietzsche's "Thus Spoke Zarathustra"

- Blurb -

Although Leo Strauss published little on Nietzsche, his lectures and correspondence demonstrate a deep critical engagement with Nietzsche' s thought. One of the richest contributions is a seminar on Nietzsche' s Thus Spoke Zarathustra, taught in 1959 during Strauss' s tenure at the University of Chicago. In the lectures, Strauss draws important parallels between Nietzsche' s most important project and his own ongoing efforts to restore classical political philosophy. With Leo Strauss on Nietzsche' s "Thus Spoke Zarathustra," eminent Strauss scholar Richard L. Velkley presents Strauss' s lectures on Zarathustra with superb annotations that bring context and clarity to the critical role played by Nietzsche in shaping Strauss' s thought. In addition to the broad relationship between Nietzsche and political philosophy, Strauss adeptly guides readers through Heidegger' s confrontations with Nietzsche, laying out Heidegger' s critique of Nietzsche' s "will to power" while also showing how Heidegger can be read as a foil for his own reading of Nietzsche. The lectures also shed light on the relationship between Heidegger and Strauss, as both philosophers saw Nietzsche as a central figure for understanding the crisis of philosophy and Western civilization. Strauss' s reading of Nietzsche is one of the important-yet little appreciated-philosophical inquiries of the past century, both an original interpretation of Nietzsche' s thought and a deep engagement with the core problems that modernity posed for political philosophy. It will be welcomed by anyone interested in the work of either philosopher.