Le lezioni di Strauss sul Simposio di Platone: breve storia di una lettura mancata

Abstract

I argue that some authoritative criticisms of Strauss as a reader of Plato are mostly based on false premisses and misunderstandings concerning his fundamental hermeneutical principles. The following points are discussed: 1) reading a philosophical text requires the provisional recognition of the author as a possible authority; 2) while philosophy consists in adequately grasping the fundamental philosophical problems, the philosophical problems themselves cannot find conclusive answers; 3) some of the reasons for esoteric and exoteric writing in philosophy and in Plato specifically; 4) the debate with Kojève on the relationship between the philosopher’s subjective certainty, truth, and political recognition; 5) the dialectic and zetetic nature of the Platonic dialogue; 6) the nature and function of Socratic irony in Plato and Xenophon. I consider specific passages from Strauss’s lectures on the Symposium, which allow for new insights and open fruitful possibilities to the interpreters of Plato.