This article asks what Plato’s Republic can teach us about the sickness from which all actual political communities suffer. The article examines Socrates’ characterization of the symptoms and causes of this sickness, explores paradoxical and contraindicated treatments, and concludes with a reflection on the politics of convalescence. The article also discusses Martin Heidegger in the course of reflecting on the danger of allowing philosophy to render service to a diseased regime in the form of ideology. ...

This article explores what I shall call the parable of the world—the idea that this world is not the bearer of its ultimate meaning, that it is written in characters that must be interpreted—as the shaping idea behind Boethius’ Consolation of Philosophy. Condemned to death, the imprisioned Boethius asks for a justification of the ways of God to man. This leads to a profound expression of the parable of the world: suffering and evil are meant to make us despise the world and seek to flee from it. We find the meaning of this world’s pain only by ...

This article explores Kant’s ethical thinking from its early origins and throughout its development prior to the Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals. Several often overlooked Kantian writings are examined, including “The Prize Essay,” the essay on Negative Magnitudes, and the Inaugural Dissertation, among others. Ultimately, the article shows the trajectory of Kant’s thinking in his published and unpublished works as it contributes to his ethical thought in the Groundwork and the important works that followed. ...

This article gives a portrayal of modernity by examining the hero of Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe as an archetype of modern man. Through a consideration of Robinson’s self-understanding in light of his life on the island, he is seen to be a relentlessly adventurous, yet business-minded individual, whose internal life is characterized by subjectivity and occasional faith. This depiction culminates in a list of five characteristic features of the modern man. ...

In response to the title question of the value of reading Leo Strauss, this article offers four answers that elucidate Strauss’s philosophical achievement. This amounts to a broad outline of the contributions Strauss made both to the understanding of the history of philosophy as well as to the position of philosophy in the contemporary world. The value of starting a school of thought is also addressed, highlighting both the advantages Strauss derived from doing so and the disadvantages that Straussianism has encountered as a result. ...