As a Chinese student doing Classics and a bit of political philosophy overseas, I’ve always been troubled by the fact that Strauss and Schmitt are such a big deal in my country. Lilla’s article is by far the best analysis I’ve read on this phenomenon (which isn’t hard as most other comments have been from die-hard liberals simply labelling Strauss and Schmitt as Nazi and Conservatist).
The Chinese student Lilla mentions in the second paragraph is said to be Li Meng, a Chinese philosopher at Peking Uni, if it helps… But whoever he is, his attitude reflects what many young Chinese students think even today. I’ve had to tell ppl millions of times that someone reading Plato in Greek is not necessarily superior to someone reading Marx in German, Derrida in French or even Rawls in English. They seem to believe once you learn Greek and Latin, nothing else is worth learning; once you’ve read Plato, all other philosophers are just trivial.“Reading Strauss in Beijing: China’s strange taste in Western philosophers” by Mark Lilla (8 December 2010).
Note that this is the date it’s published online. You’ll need subscription to read the full article, but internet is a magic – pay special attention to the Chinese sites.
Personally, I’m sympathetic with Strauss’ concerns with the problem of the ‘mob’ and I think their critiques of democracy are important. But the Chinese Straussianism brings up further problems of minority rights and cultural racism. Ironically, the elites or the philosophers and the gentlemen are always in the minority. Without respect of minority groups of any kind, the cultural elites have to resort to brutal violence to maintain their rule.
For sure, the Straussians will have a lot to say about violence (probably to justify it). But remember one golden rule of our time: ppl who advocate violence of any form at any time and any place, no matter what it’s for (stability, harmony, unity, democracy), they’re demagogues.
