Isaiah Berlin's Letter to Harry Jaffa (May 24, 1992) is the only found response of Berlin to Leo Strauss' criticism in "Relativism" (1961). The letter was unknown for decades, and it hasn't published in any language before. This Chinese... more
Isaiah Berlin's Letter to Harry Jaffa (May 24, 1992) is the only found response of Berlin to Leo Strauss' criticism in "Relativism" (1961). The letter was unknown for decades, and it hasn't published in any language before. This Chinese translation is its first publication in the world. Based on this letter, I will soon publish a paper to argue that Berlin's pluralism supports not what Strauss called "absolutism", but what Berlin called "universalism".
A review of Michael Anton's "After the Flight 93 Election," published as part of a symposium at Law & Liberty. I present Anton as the most popular spokesman for the Claremont school of conservatism, an ascendant force on the American... more
A review of Michael Anton's "After the Flight 93 Election," published as part of a symposium at Law & Liberty. I present Anton as the most popular spokesman for the Claremont school of conservatism, an ascendant force on the American right during the Trump presidency. Anton's book is a pithy and accessible statement of the fundamental tenets of Claremont's "Americanist conservatism."
In the Politics, Aristotle ridicules the city planner and political theorist Hippodamus for his manner of dress and personal ambition. How is this kind of mockery, highly unusual for Aristotle, related to his criticism of Hippodamus’s... more
In the Politics, Aristotle ridicules the city planner and political theorist Hippodamus for his manner of dress and personal ambition. How is this kind of mockery, highly unusual for Aristotle, related to his criticism of Hippodamus’s proposed best regime, and specifically to his program for political innovation? Hippodamus, in his reliance on method and confidence in the possibility of translating knowledge of nature directly into efficacious human law, differs from the other pre-modern alternatives to ancient political philosophy, and is reminiscent of modern political science. By looking at Aristotle’s repudiation of a system that is characterized by specious simplicity, one can grasp what understanding he considers necessary for an especially political study: that the law has its force through habit, and we must therefore balance the need for rational organization and the universal applicability of political principles with what is local and particular. Modern political science can learn from the caution Aristotle displays with regard to seeking improvement or perfection of laws and institutions. His treatment of Hippodamus suggests that ridicule may also be a useful corrective.
