7,590 words
1. Knowledge of the Right Use of All Things
To explain what philosophy is, we always have to go back to the beginning. Pythagoras (ca. 570-495 BC) is said to have been confronted by Leon, the tyrant of Philius, who demanded to know if he was wise. He responded that he was not a wise man, but merely a φιλόσοφος (philosophos), a “lover of wisdom”; a practitioner of φιλοσοφία (philosophia). Φίλος (philos) means “love,” and σοφῐ́ᾱ (sophia) means “wisdom.” (more…)
Carl Schmitt, 1888–1985
127 words / 1:55:45
The last episode of Counter-Currents Radio featured Greg Johnson reading from and discussing his essay “Reflections on Carl Schmitt’s The Concept of the Political,” as well as answering YOUR QUESTIONS, as always, and it is now available for download and online listening.
Topics discussed include:
The Concept of the Political
A few words on Carl Schmitt (more…)
162 words / 58:51
To listen in a player, click here. To download the mp3, right-click here and choose “save link as” or “save target as.”
This week Greg Johnson talks to Counter-Currents writer Nicholas Jeelvy (part 1 of 2), (more…)
Alexandre Kojève
5,094 slov
English original here
Poznámka autora: Následuje přepis řeči, kterou jsem v roce 2000 přednesl v Atlantě. Odstranil jsem příliš košaté větné konstrukce, stejně jako občasnou interakci s publikem.
Žijeme v době bohaté na předpovědi konce věků. Loni, na konci roku 1999, oslavovala drtivá většina silvestrovských hýřilů o rok předčasně konec milénia. (more…)
Max Weber
4,535 words
Part 1 here
The Intellectual Bankruptcy of the Present Age
Not only does Strauss claim that historicism is a healthy reaction to the intellectual bankruptcy of the modern world, in the next section of his essay, he also attributes this bankruptcy to non-historicist causes.
First, Strauss talks about Max Weber’s Learning and Science as Vocation. He specifically objects to Weber’s claim that reason cannot speak about the ultimate aims of life: (more…)
3,215 words
Part 1 of 2
Leo Strauss is widely known as a critic of historicism and an advocate of classical philosophy. Historicism holds that philosophical ideas are relative to culture, whereas classical philosophy aims for knowledge of nature, which is not relative to culture. But what is Strauss’s own point of view? Does he base his arguments on historicist or classical philosophical premises? (more…)
Leo Strauss, 1899–1973
6,759 slov
English original here
Poznámka autora:
Následující esej jsem napsal v 90. letech jako doktorand, ne v rámci svých studijních povinností, ale spíš abych si ujasnil své myšlenky ohledně čtení filozofických textů v rámci přípravy k psaní své vlastní doktorské disertační práce. Jen těžko dokážu uvěřit, že jsem míval dostatek volného času na to, abych psal eseje o skoro osmi tisících slovech „do šuplíku,“ ale důkaz máte před sebou. (more…)
3,510 words
Leo Strauss, in his 1952 book, Persecution and the Art of Writing, argues that great writers tend to write with multiple levels of meaning. Often writers have an exoteric message to avoid displeasing the king, censors, or fashion of the times. At the same time, they maintain an esoteric message concealed within irony, paradoxes, and even deliberate self-contradiction. (more…)
3,564 words
English original here
La mejor decisión que tomé en mi vida fue conseguir un doctorado en filosofía. Aprendí sobre las preguntas más importantes, y estudié los intentos más profundos en responderlas, y obtuve las herramientas y el compromiso para buscar la verdad, y me volví mejor, es decir, un hombre más sabio en el proceso. (more…)
3,506 words
Spanish translation here
The best decision I ever made was to pursue a Ph.D. in philosophy. I learned about the most important questions, I studied the most profound attempts to answer them, I acquired both the tools and the commitment to pursue the truth, and I became a better—that is, wiser—man in the process. (more…)
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