定位史特勞斯：其「政治哲學」之釋義

Abstract

李奧•史特勞斯與其政治哲學在政治學界向來是受爭論的議題。本論文試圖從層層爭辯中開出新路，對史特勞斯的政治哲學提出一較為整全的解釋。這個解釋是從史特勞斯自身對神學─政治問題的強調出發，即對史特勞斯早期的著作做深入的探討，以此為正確解讀史特勞斯在到達美國之後所建立的對政治哲學的特別詮釋的主要方法。從史賓諾沙的宗教批判中的發現、到對邁蒙尼德的前現代的理性主義的研究，史特勞斯的「政治哲學」的理解乃是經過一連串對神學─政治問題的反省與思考；而後者也使我們得以對史特勞斯向來被視為難解的自然概念以及自然權利有一更為深入的探究。這一過程同時也說明了本論文對史特勞斯的理解途徑的有效性：史特勞斯的思想並不是斷裂的，因此也只有從整體的(尤其不忽略早期發展與問題的重要性)角度才能真正地理解史特勞斯的政治哲學的真意。

The controversies surrounding the German-born American scholar Leo Strauss and his political philosophy have always been fierce. In this study, I intend to offer my understanding of Strauss’s political philosophy by showing that how Strauss’s thought responds to his time, with the problem that it is pointing to, is the key to his political philosophy. And this understanding has to be based upon the awareness that his “political philosophy” is idiosyncratic in the way that we should refrain from simply judging and criticizing it from the present and modern point of view. I argue that Strauss’s “political philosophy” is to be examined with the thought that Strauss is holding a unique view of philosophy, and it is to be assessed as one whose insight and value is no less enlightening than other philosophical developments of the time. Going over the genesis and development of Strauss’s “political philosophy” would finally lead us to the realization that the idea of nature constitutes the core of his political philosophy. This process also justifies our early point that Strauss’s thought can only be fully comprehended when we take his early works into account. I argue that this is how we obtain the most comprehensive interpretation of his “political philosophy.”