Michael Hoover: > some so-called 'neo-cons' in bush administration were otensibly influenced by late university of chicago political philosopher leo strauss who rejected 'liberal relativism' which he claimed separated facts and values, result would be loss of virtue opening door for nihilism (all values are baseless) and totalitarianism (total control of all aspects of life),<
according to one "nationalist" conservative, the Straussians didn't reject moral relativism: >The main difference between the Straussians and Left-wing nihilists is that the former think the "truth" of value-relativism should be known only to the few. All the philosophical problems with relativism apply to the Straussians' Right-wing version, and in spades. Suffice it here to say that the Straussians, too, have to introduce quasi-objective standards of judgment, covertly and unintentionally: e.g., the social utility of religion and patriotism. Surely, the very fact that society requires certain things -- communal loyalty, for instance -- in itself justifies these things: they are rooted in nature, the social nature of humanity.< (from http://home.earthlink.net/~karljahn/Strauss.htm) In other words, the Straussians accept relativism but hide it, seeing it as something to be hidden from the masses so that the latter can be controlled. An LMU philosopher once recommended this summary to me as being accurate, even though its author thinks that "it's America's moon!" -- Jim Devine [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://myweb.lmu.edu/jdevine
