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TheQuestionofModernityMeetstheQuestionofLeoStrauss
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butrathertheservantsofsomemysteriousunconsciousthatspeaksthroughthem.
KinzelstressestheimportanceofLeoStrausswhoseworkpresentsaserious
challengetothereigningorthodoxiesabouthowtoreadtexts.Straussrejectedthe
currentpresuppositionthatthe"humanities”alwayshistoricizeandthedogma
thatdeniestheverypossibilityofphilosophyintheoriginalsense.Strauss’scon-
ceptionofphilosophyaimstopreserveanawarenessofthenecessitynottostop
thinking,whichisidenticalwithaskingquestions.Thesequestionsinturnalways
implythecrucialquestions"Whyphilosophy?”and"Whatisphilosophy?”And
thesequestionscannotbequestionsaboutanything,butaboutmostimportantand
weightymatters.StrausstakesupPlato’sfamousallegoryandtalksabouttheso-
calledsecondcaveintowhichwehavefallen.ThesecondcaveofwhichStrauss
speaksinthe1930sconstitutesourmodernpredicamentwhichisanunnatural
situation.Itisnecessarytouse(anditisparadoxical)unnaturalmeanstoretrieve
somethingofthenaturalhorizonthatconstitutesthestartingpointforphiloso-
phyasoriginallyunderstood.Wecantrytoascendfromthecavebymeansof
"lesendesLernen”(learningbyreading).Sothetaskofphilosophicaleducation
forthe21stcenturymaythuswellbetoteachstudentstheartofreading.Kinzel
concludesemphatically:Readingisaformofactioninbehalfofphilosophy:
Legereestagere.
ThelastchapterentitledLeoStrauss’sGynaikologia,writtenbyLaurence
Lampert(whohimselfcouldnotbepresentattheconference),givesasignificant
exampleofanartofreadingdeeplyinspiredbyStrauss’sconceptofesoterism.
LampertreferstothetwolatebooksbyStraussthatconveyXenophon’spicture
ofSocrates.Themethodheusesisakindofverycarefulexegesiswhoseaim
consistsinrecoveringthetwofoldmeaningofthetext;anexegesisthatshouldbe
consideredaninvitationtostudythetextinordertoconfirmorrefutetheclaims
madebythecommentator.Thus,fromLampert’spointofview,aphilosophic
textisesoteric,whichmeansthatit"hashiddenmarvels”forthemostselected
audience.Accordingtohim,suchanartofesotericwritingwaspracticedbythe
classicpupilofSocratesaswellasbyStraussphilosophicallycommentingon
hisworks.Now,thetitle"gynaikologia”isgivenbyStraussanditcoversfour
chapterscontainingSocrates’narrationofhisconversationwithIschomachos.
Theseare:Marriageaccordingtothegodsandaccordingtothelaw(Chapter
VII);Order,I(ChapterVIII);Order,II(ChapterIX);Cosmetics(ChapterX).
LampertshowsthatStrauss’scommentarydeliberatelyreflectsthestructureof
Xenophon’sbook.Notleavingtheplaneofexegesisheexpressesthesuggestion
that"Xenophon’smatureSocratesofferedhisteleotheology”(withthisterm,also
coinedbyStrauss,meaningthat"Socratesteachesatheologyandacosmology
thatmaintainthatgodsmanageacosmosend-directedforhumanbenefit”)"as
Plato’smatureSocratesofferedhisdoctrineofideas;”theyoccurtobetheteach-
ingssusceptibleto"difficultiesorlogicalrefutation,butsalutaryorusefulfor
younggentlemenandprospectivephilosophers.”InLampert’swords,"whilethe
