Read this article from the Boston Sunday Globe's Ideas section while proctoring an exam yesterday. Speaks of the enduring influence of Leo Strauss on many of the neocon policy wonks in DC, in and out of government. I never had to read Strauss as an undergrad or grad student, and know of him only in passing. And that passing knowledge was always skeptical. As a historian, I put great importance on context, time, and ideas, and thinkers (as I perceive Strauss) who seem to dabble too much out of time are under suspicion. The strongest ideas are based in and out of time, like humans are both body and soul. Too much reliance on either clouds understanding.

But I may try and snag a couple of examination copies of Strauss' works and give them a summer read, possibly for inclusion in a course next year.