The Forgotten Comedy of the Socratic Turn

Abstract

Leo Strauss ends his Socrates and Aristophanes with a pregnant assertion: the best account of the Socratic turn is offered by al-Razi in his The Philosophical Way of Life. Al-Razi’s account thus provides two invaluable opportunities: to gain some insight into Strauss’s unique understanding of Socrates, and the chance to examine the problem of Socrates from a nontraditional vantage point. Taking advantage of these opportunities reveals an oft-overlooked moment in the history of political philosophy: Socrates’s discovery of the regime. This essay examines al-Razi’s account while also casting a new light on Strauss’s own scholarship.

The Porous Polis: A Critique of Democracy in Old Comedy

“…102 In so doing, Clouds accomplishes "an attack on an attack on politics" and reinforces the authority of mutual accountability. 103 Although "anti-antidemocratic" does not reduce to "democratic," and "an attack on an attack on politics" does not constitute a defense of politics, Aristophanes does not foreclose on the potential commonality and equality of the polis. An Aristophanic critique of democracy that is internal along the demos model reinforces for its audience the values and principles that support political community in a democratic system of government.…”