LEO STRAUSS, THE 'NEW THOUGHT' AND TO MEND THE WORLD

This article presents an edited and annotated transcription of a letter-ontape that was sent to the editor by Emil L. Fackenheim in 1984. A short introduction recounts the origins of the letter-on-tape, which was a reply to a letter sent by the editor to Fackenheim in Israel. In the recording, Fackenheim articulated and discussed his relation to Leo Strauss as a thinker, to whom he meaningfully dedicated To Mend the World. The letter-on-tape allowed him to voice his views on the role played by Strauss in the formation of his own thought, and on how significant he considered Strauss to be as a modern Jewish thinker. It also permitted Fackenheim to identify and elaborate on what were for him the limits of Strauss's "Platonic" philosophic position, especially vis-a-vis the Holocaust and radical evil.