On Tyranny (Commentary on Xenophon's "Hiero")

Author: Strauss et al. (USA), translated by He Di
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-01-01
Features: Ancient classics believed that due to human weakness or dependence, universal happiness is impossible, and thus, they never dreamed of a completed history. With their spiritual eyes, they saw a happy society, a society where human nature has the highest possibility. However, since they also saw how limited human power is, they believed that the realization of the best regime depends on luck. Modern people, however, are not satisfied with this utopia; they try to ensure the realization of the best social order. To succeed, or rather, to convince themselves of success, they must lower human goals: replace moral virtue with universal recognition, and replace happiness with the satisfaction derived from universal recognition. – Strauss’s debate is very unusual. Usually, in cases of such deep and intense disagreements, serious discussions are rare, but both sides’ desire to understand the issue is stronger than their desire to stick to their positions. This is why they so thoroughly elucidate their propositions. – De Tyrannide by Guérot and Roz is a seminal work by Strauss in his Platonic political philosophy research. It holds epoch-making significance not only for his academic career but also for the academic history of the 20th century—and even since the Enlightenment. However, as Walther Konig said, Strauss’s work is difficult to understand, marked by obscurity—indeed, we need to read this book as Strauss read Xenophon’s Hiero. Translating De Tyrannide from English to French is challenging, and so is Kojève’s commentary from French to English, and both into Chinese is even harder, not to mention the private correspondence that frequently discusses profound metaphysical issues yet is written in highly unconventional language—being able to invite Mr. He Di, who has translated major works of political philosophy, to take on this translation is indeed a great fortune.