Hobbes's Critique of religion & related writings
By: Leo Strauss ; translated and edited by Gabriel Bartlett & Svetozar Minkov
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Published: 2011
Place of publication: Chicago
Language: eng
Number of pages: 167
ISBN-13: 9780226776828
Subjects: Religion
Other titles: Hobbes's Critique of religion and related writings
Work titles: Religionskritik des Hobbes
Description: "Leo Strauss's The Political Philosophy of Hobbes deservedly ranks among his most widely acclaimed works. In it Strauss argues that the basis for Hobbes's natural and political science is his interest in "self-knowledge of man as he really is." The writings collected in this book, each written prior to that classic volume, complement that account. Thus at long last, this book allows us to have a complete picture of Strauss's interpretation of Hobbes, the thinker pivotal to the fundamental theme of his life's work: the conflicting demands of philosophy and revelation, or as he termed it, "the theologico-political problem." It is no exaggeration to say that Strauss's work on Hobbes's critique of religion is essential to his analysis of Hobbes's political philosophy, and vice versa. This volume will spark new interest in Hobbes's explication of the Bible and in his understanding of religion by revealing previously neglected dimensions and motives of Hobbes's "theology." At the same time, scholars interested in the intellectual development of Leo Strauss will find in these writings the missing link, as it were, between his two early books, Spinoza's Critique of Religion and The Political Philosophy of Hobbes. In addition, this volume makes available for the first time in English a letter, a book outline, an extended review, an engagement with legal positivism, and an account of Strauss's work on Hobbes by Heinrich Meier, all of which shed light on Strauss's concerns and his approach to Hobbes in particular, as well as to modern political thought and life." --Publisher description.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Occasion and purpose of the study; title: Hobbes's politics and the critique of revelation; title: The different versions of Hobbes's critique of religion; title: The critique of the tradition; title: The principle of scripture; title: Spirits and angels; title: The kingdom of God and eternal life; title: Temporal and spiritual power; title: The kingdom of darkness; title: Characteristics of the critique of the tradition; title: The critique of scripture; title: The knowability and the believability of revelation; title: The knowability and the possibility of revelation; title: The knowability and the possibility of miracles; title: Hobbes and Descartes; title: The basis of Hobbes's critique of religion.