“In this brilliant analysis of the coming to be of Strauss, Plato, and Nietzsche as philosophers and poets, Laurence Lampert reaches new heights and plumbs new depths. An extraordinarily rich and insightful book, thoughtful and beautiful in its execution. A masterful performance by a thinker and author at the height of his power.”—Michael Allen Gillespie, author of Nietzsche’s Final Teaching Six essays from a well-known Nietzsche scholar on Strauss, Plato, Nietzsche, and the history of western philosophy In The Beijing Lectures: Strauss, Plato, Nietzsche, Laurence Lampert presents what he calls the new history of philosophy made possible by Friedrich Nietzsche. This “new” history takes seriously Nietzsche’s claim that “the greatest thoughts are the greatest events.” To put it even more assertively that “genuine philosophers are commanders and legislators.” Beginning with Leo Strauss and how his recovery of the philosophers’ art of writing can change our way of viewing the history of philosophy, Lampert then focuses on six Platonic dialogues—Protagoras, Charmides, Republic, Phaedo, Parmenides, and Symposium. These, he believes, mark a turning point in Western history and set the pattern for the whole Western philosophic tradition. In the third and final section, Lampert considers Nietzsche in order to show how he revolutionized our understanding of the world, and in particular why it is appropriate to view him as “the first comprehensive ecological philosopher.”

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.

Recovering Hegel from the Critique of Leo Srauss offers a defense of modernity against the critique of the influential mid-twentieth century political philosopher, Leo Strauss. Strauss, whose influence on contemporary conservative political theory is well documented, discovered the ground of much of what he found wanting in contemporary political and social life to lie in the philosophy of the 19th century German philosopher, G. W. F. Hegel. Specifically, Strauss accused Hegel of being the greatest exponent of historicism and thus the relativism that afflicts modern thought. Ultimately, according to Strauss, this has led to the nihilism and general mediocrity that characterizes modern western culture. In this book, Sara MacDonald and Barry Craig examine Strauss’s reading of Hegel and argue that in fact it is a mis-reading. Contrary to Strauss’s interpretation, this book holds that Hegel was no relativist and in fact sought to show the compatibility of objective, eternal truth with modern human subjectivity. At the same time, it illustrates the way in which Hegel’s thought prepared the ground for enlightened modern liberal democracies and also remains relevant to current social and political conversations.