Leo Strauss on the Borders of Judaism, Philosophy, and History

Jeffrey A. Bernstein is Associate Professor of Philosophy at the College of the Holy Cross.

"In offering us a cogent, well-argued, and well-researched reading of what many, including Leo Strauss himself, claim to be the central issue at stake in his (and all profound) thought, namely, the theological-political problem (TPP), Bernstein's volume capably joins the fray surrounding the controversial twentieth-century thinker." — Religious Studies Review"Bernstein's book is probably the best non-Straussian treatment of the problem of Athens and Jerusalem in the thought of Leo Strauss … [a] rich book." — Theory & Event"Bernstein poses fundamental questions about Strauss by situating him as one of the Jewish thinkers of his time, the twentieth-century critical period that separates modern Judaism from what comes after. Bernstein avoids the cheap historicism of claiming that it is this situation that defines or limits Strauss. Rather, he, uniquely, shows the ways in which Strauss leads us to think by presenting himself in dialogue with these rival thinkers." — Review of Politics"…[a] valuable contribution to the ongoing engagement with the thought of Leo Strauss." — CHOICE

• AcknowledgmentsAbbreviationsIntroductionPart I. On the Way to Jerusalem and Athens 1. The Theological-Political Problem, Strauss’s Critique of Modern "Jewish Philosophy," and the Legacy of Kant2. Strauss’s MaimonidesPart II. Jerusalem and Athens in Deed 3. Philosophy as a Platonic Dialogue, or Jerusalem and Athens in Jerusalem4. The Theological-Political Significance of "What Is Political Philosophy?"Part III. Conclusion 5. The Transmission of Philosophy as a Way of Life: Maimonides Viewed Through a Spinozan LensNotesBibliographyIndex