Treść książki
Przejdź do opcji czytnikaPrzejdź do nawigacjiPrzejdź do informacjiPrzejdź do stopki
16
ModernityandWhatHasBeenLost
deepestreplytothecritiqueswhichhavebeenaddressedtohisachievement.In
thefamousconcludingparagraphofhis"Restatement,”Straussstatedthecon-
flictingpresuppositionsofhisdiscussionwithKojève.Patarddiscussesthedebate
inadetailedway.KojèveequatedHegel’skeystatement"GeististZeit”withthe
followingone:"ManisTime,”TimeexistsinsofarthereisHistory,i.e.,human
existence,drivenbyDesire(orientedtowardfuture:whatisabsent,presentinso-
faritisabsent),DesireofDesire(desireasconstitutingmaninhishumanity,i.e.,
anthropogenicdesire),"ManisDesireforRecognition,”andeventuallythe"his-
toricalevolutionwhichfinallycomestotheuniversalandhomogeneousState.”
Patarddiscussestheproblemofthelastmenwithregardtotheuniversaland
homogenousstateandthegroundsofStrauss’sobjectiontoit.Healsodrawsour
attentiontothefinal,well-knownsentencefromStrauss’sconcludingparagraph
thatclearlyalludestoHeidegger’srevivalofthequestionofBeing(Seinsfrage),
anditimpliesthatacommonagreementbetweenStraussandKojèveagainst
Heideggeriscrucialintheirdebate.
PiotrNowakinhischapterentitledCarlSchmittandhisCriticclaimsthat
CarlSchmitt,likeHobbesbefore,wasconsideredtobeanintellectualpariahfor
manyyears.AccordingtohimHobbesandSchmittcertainlyshareafewcon-
cepts,firstformulatedbyHobbesandthenfilledwithnewmeaningbySchmitt
suchasbellumomniumcontraomnes,"protectioninexchangeforobedience,”
"manisawolftoanotherman.”Thetwoauthorssharedtheanthropological
axiom–similarunderstandingofhumannature,ofitsevilcharacter.Nowak
discussesamasterlycritiqueofSchmittbyLeoStrauss.ForHobbes,thestateof
natureisaconstantstruggleagainstadversity,againstphysicalandsocialpower,
theinfluenceandwillsofotherpeople.Inthissense,thestateofnatureisimpos-
sible.Onecannotliveinsuchconditions.AccordingtoSchmitt,however,the
stateofnaturedoesnotconcernindividualsbutseparatetotalities,stateswhich
havedeadlyenemies(deadly–becauseapoliticalconflictisalwaysastruggle
forlifeanddeath)aswellaspotentialalliesandneutralstates.Thestateofna-
turedefinedinthiswayisnotafiction.Howeveritmaybecomeafictionwhen
theworldiscompletelydepoliticized.Hobbespicturedthemechanicsandthe
workingsofthepowerapparatusofthemodernstate.AccordingtoNowakitwas
Schmittwhopenetratedthebeastfromtheinsideandwhofoundthedirectop-
positeoftheLeviathan.
TillKinzelinhischapterentitledPostmodernismandtheArtofWriting:The
ImportanceofLeoStraussforthe21stCenturyspeaksaboutStrausswithinthe
contextofpostmodernisminordertohighlighttoday’sverystrongprejudicesto
Strauss’sunderstandingofphilosophy.Theseobstaclesarebasedontheextreme
historicismorculturalismthatisdominantinthecurrentacademicdiscourseand
whichdeniesanytransculturalstandardsaswellastheabilitytoovercomethe
limitationsoftime.ThethoughtofMichelFoucaultorJacquesLacanclaims
somethingcontrarytoStrauss,namelythatwritersarenotmastersoftheirwords
