"The East within us": Leo Strauss's reinterpretation of Heidegger

David McIlwain*

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    4 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Leo Strauss's grand theme, the theological-political problem, has its basis in the predicament of being a philosopher in a political society. As a Jew and a philosopher, Strauss also faced the entanglement of Judaism and German philosophy culminating in Heidegger's historicism. These related challenges prompted Strauss's recognition of the first steps for philosophy in a global epoch. Strauss reinterpreted Heidegger's religious anticipation of a "meeting of East and West" as a philosophical re-encounter with the Bible as "the East within us." Whereas the Bible challenges the rationality of the philosophical way of life, this "Bible as Eastern" challenges rationalism itself.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)233-253
    Number of pages21
    JournalJournal of Jewish Thought and Philosophy
    Volume26
    Issue number2
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2018

    Keywords

    • Bible
    • Biblical tradition
    • Historicism
    • Leo Strauss
    • Martin Heidegger
    • Quid sit deus
    • Theologico-political problem

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