On Leo Strauss's Criticism Of Modern Political Science Values

Straussianism has carried weight in western and Chinese academic circles.Leo Strauss' s thought is quite distinctive in reflections of modern political science and modern rationalism.According to classical rationalism and natural right,he criticized modern rationalism which was regardless of human purposefulness and virtue and finally declined to relativism and nihilism.Strauss expected to figure out a solution from classical political philosophy to overcome the crisis of western modernity and to get liberal democracies out of trouble.This paper focuses on Strauss' critique of modern political scientific values,which is part of Strauss' critique about the crisis of modern rationalism.On the basis of systematic comments on Strauss' s critique about modern political scientific values,this paper focuses on his critique about historism,the fact/value dichotomy and positivism,which are the basic philosophical assumptions and the moral basis of the modern political science.Simultaneously,Strauss' s critique about modern political science were analyzed in depth through concerning four aspects: the difference between the division of classical political science and modern political science,the division of classical practical science and theoretical science and the division of modern theoretical science and applied science,and the differences on their languages and their basic concept of human nature between classical political science and modern political science.This paper researches the Strauss' s political scientific critique under the background of modern rationalism and defines the purpose of Strauss' s critique about modern political science.This purpose is to criticize modern rationality which takes on the relativism and nihilism.At last,by comparing the difference of Strauss' s and neoconservatism's critique about political science,this paper intends to define the problem which is invariably misunderstood by the academic circle: although both Strauss and neoconservatism all worried about the neutral view of liberal democracies and modern political science,their political philosophies were obviously different.