Politics and the Drama of Existence in Leo Strauss' Nietzsche

Abstract

Nietzsche's aversion to Christianity, democracy and socialism can be translated by his denial of egalitarianism. In fact, the philosopher sees in the feeling of secular hope and the loss of the agonistic aspect of existence, the most radical form of décadence. For his part, Leo Strauss sees in Nietzsche's attack on egalitarianism as a way of protecting modern liberal democracy from itself. However, for the Chicago professor, proposing a political regime from the Nietzschean conceptions would certainly not lead the world to another place, if not to barbarism. For Nietzsche exposes man to a brutish and inhuman truth, which most men can not bear. Thus, Strauss intends to use Nietzsche's lethal truths as a “toolbox”, his critique of modernity is fundamental to his overcoming nihilism and to the defense of the philosophical way of life, which implies acceptance of the drama of life as such how is she. That said, this study aims to show that: for Nietzsche the spread of the modern ideal of equality led the West to degenerate, by leveling all individuals underneath, transforming them into a herd, the birth of the last man was promoted, which makes it impossible the emergence of the creative genius that imposes its will to power, the Übermansch. Whereas, for Strauss, the Pathos for radical equality as the supreme value of modernity, besides having been the cause of the major catastrophes of contemporaneity, makes the emergence of the “gentleman” (virtuous man), and with it, the search for the best society, the best regime and the best way of living.