Criticism of historicism in Leo Strauss’ political philosophy

Philosophy

Abstract

The article discusses the motives and foundations for criticism of historicism in Leo Strauss’ political philosophy. The major arguments against the principle of historism suggested by Strauss are identified and ordered. All objections made by Strauss are divided into two groups. The first one includes those arguments which challenge not the content of the principle of historism itself, but the value attributed to it in the context of philosophical and scientific knowledge. The other group includes substantive objections to historicism.Strauss analyzes and compares different versions of historicism philosophy, identifies their common denominator, traces the genesis of historism as a cultural and historical relativism. The core of any historicism concept are the presumption of historical dependence of philosophy and the statement on the impossibility of universal answers to philosophical questions. Historicism is regarded by Strauss as the main challenge that modern philosophy is facing. According to Strauss, the idea of progress, firmly established in modern times, played the key role in decomposition of the classical philosophical tradition and formation of historicism concepts. Strauss brings together all the major objections and arguments that were declared against historicism by representatives of various philosophical trends of the 20 th century. Strauss’ own contribution to the criticism of historicism is the substantiation of the thesis that this principle cannot have historical and empirical justification, but is a self-contradictory philosophical idea. Strauss convincingly showed that the position of historicism cannot be refuted by historical facts and arguments. It can only be rejected in the name of some other (not less fundamental than historicism) philosophical principle.