Leo Strauss (1899–1973) was one of the preeminent political philosophers of the twentieth century. He is the author of many books, among them The Political Philosophy of Hobbes, Natural Right and History, and Spinoza’s Critique of Religion, all published by the University of Chicago Press. Richard L. Velkley is the Celia Scott Weatherhead Professor of Philosophy at Tulane University and the author, most recently, of Heidegger, Strauss, and the Premises of Philosophy.

“Nietzsche had a significance for Strauss that far exceeds the volume of his published comments. In these lectures on Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Strauss does with Nietzsche what he did with Plato, Maimonides, Machiavelli, and other major figures in the Western philosophical tradition. He gives a detailed commentary on Nietzsche’s most important book, allowing Nietzsche his own manner of expression and working to understand why Nietzsche wrote this way. The result is an important contribution to our understanding of Zarathustra, a meticulous laying out of Nietzsche’s teachings made possible by Strauss’s determination to follow the drama of this most unusual book.”

• The Leo Strauss Transcript ProjectEditor’s Introduction: Strauss, Nietzsche, and the History of Political PhilosophyEditorial Headnote1 Introduction: Nietzsche’s Philosophy, Existentialism, and the Problem of Our Age2 Restoring Nature as Ethical Principle: Zarathustra, Prologue3 The Creative Self: Zarathustra, Part 1, 1–8 4 The True Individual as the Highest Goal: Zarathustra, Part 1, 9–155 Postulated Nature and Final Truth: Zarathustra, Part 1, 16–226 Truth, Interpretation, and Intelligibility: Zarathustra, Part 2, 1–127 Will to Power and Self- Overcoming: Zarathustra, Part 2, 15–208 Summary and Review: Fusing Plato and the Creative Self9 Greek Philosophy and the Bible; Nature and History: Zarathustra, Part 2, 20–2210 Eternal Recurrence: Zarathustra, Part 2, 21; Part 3, 1–1311 Survey: Nietzsche and Political Philosophy12 The Goodness of the Whole, Socratic and Heideggerian Critiques: Zarathustra, Part 3, 4–1213 Creative Contemplation: Zarathustra, Part 3, 1314 Restoring the Sacred and the Final Question: Zarathustra, Part 4NotesIndex

Leo Strauss (1899–1973) was one of the preeminent political philosophers of the twentieth century. He is the author of many books, among them The Political Philosophy of Hobbes, Natural Right and History, and Spinoza’s Critique of Religion, all published by the University of Chicago Press. Richard L. Velkley is the Celia Scott Weatherhead Professor of Philosophy at Tulane University and the author, most recently, of Heidegger, Strauss, and the Premises of Philosophy.

“Nietzsche had a significance for Strauss that far exceeds the volume of his published comments. In these lectures on Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Strauss does with Nietzsche what he did with Plato, Maimonides, Machiavelli, and other major figures in the Western philosophical tradition. He gives a detailed commentary on Nietzsche’s most important book, allowing Nietzsche his own manner of expression and working to understand why Nietzsche wrote this way. The result is an important contribution to our understanding of Zarathustra, a meticulous laying out of Nietzsche’s teachings made possible by Strauss’s determination to follow the drama of this most unusual book.”

• The Leo Strauss Transcript ProjectEditor’s Introduction: Strauss, Nietzsche, and the History of Political PhilosophyEditorial Headnote1 Introduction: Nietzsche’s Philosophy, Existentialism, and the Problem of Our Age2 Restoring Nature as Ethical Principle: Zarathustra, Prologue3 The Creative Self: Zarathustra, Part 1, 1–8 4 The True Individual as the Highest Goal: Zarathustra, Part 1, 9–155 Postulated Nature and Final Truth: Zarathustra, Part 1, 16–226 Truth, Interpretation, and Intelligibility: Zarathustra, Part 2, 1–127 Will to Power and Self- Overcoming: Zarathustra, Part 2, 15–208 Summary and Review: Fusing Plato and the Creative Self9 Greek Philosophy and the Bible; Nature and History: Zarathustra, Part 2, 20–2210 Eternal Recurrence: Zarathustra, Part 2, 21; Part 3, 1–1311 Survey: Nietzsche and Political Philosophy12 The Goodness of the Whole, Socratic and Heideggerian Critiques: Zarathustra, Part 3, 4–1213 Creative Contemplation: Zarathustra, Part 3, 1314 Restoring the Sacred and the Final Question: Zarathustra, Part 4NotesIndex

Leo Strauss (1899–1973) was one of the preeminent political philosophers of the twentieth century. He is the author of many books, among them The Political Philosophy of Hobbes, Natural Right and History, and Spinoza’s Critique of Religion, all published by the University of Chicago Press. Richard L. Velkley is the Celia Scott Weatherhead Professor of Philosophy at Tulane University and the author, most recently, of Heidegger, Strauss, and the Premises of Philosophy.

“Nietzsche had a significance for Strauss that far exceeds the volume of his published comments. In these lectures on Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Strauss does with Nietzsche what he did with Plato, Maimonides, Machiavelli, and other major figures in the Western philosophical tradition. He gives a detailed commentary on Nietzsche’s most important book, allowing Nietzsche his own manner of expression and working to understand why Nietzsche wrote this way. The result is an important contribution to our understanding of Zarathustra, a meticulous laying out of Nietzsche’s teachings made possible by Strauss’s determination to follow the drama of this most unusual book.”

• The Leo Strauss Transcript ProjectEditor’s Introduction: Strauss, Nietzsche, and the History of Political PhilosophyEditorial Headnote1 Introduction: Nietzsche’s Philosophy, Existentialism, and the Problem of Our Age2 Restoring Nature as Ethical Principle: Zarathustra, Prologue3 The Creative Self: Zarathustra, Part 1, 1–8 4 The True Individual as the Highest Goal: Zarathustra, Part 1, 9–155 Postulated Nature and Final Truth: Zarathustra, Part 1, 16–226 Truth, Interpretation, and Intelligibility: Zarathustra, Part 2, 1–127 Will to Power and Self- Overcoming: Zarathustra, Part 2, 15–208 Summary and Review: Fusing Plato and the Creative Self9 Greek Philosophy and the Bible; Nature and History: Zarathustra, Part 2, 20–2210 Eternal Recurrence: Zarathustra, Part 2, 21; Part 3, 1–1311 Survey: Nietzsche and Political Philosophy12 The Goodness of the Whole, Socratic and Heideggerian Critiques: Zarathustra, Part 3, 4–1213 Creative Contemplation: Zarathustra, Part 3, 1314 Restoring the Sacred and the Final Question: Zarathustra, Part 4NotesIndex