MODERNITY AND TYRANNY IN LEO STRAUSS’S POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY

Year 2018, Volume: 13 Issue: 26, 217 - 239, 29.12.2018

Mete Ulaş Aksoy

Abstract

According to Leo Strauss, modern political science has been in serious
difficulty to understand and explain the phenomenon of tyranny. To overcome
thistrouble, Strauss recommends returning to the classical political philosophy.
Accordingly, this return enables us to realize that far from being a phenomenon
of previous ages, tyranny is a human condition that is still with us. Looking at
Strauss’s views on modernity from this perspective also makes visible the
subterranean links between modernity and tyranny. This study has three
sections. In the first one, it will focus on the link between modernity and tyranny
with the help of Strauss’s critique of modernity. In the second, it will dealt with
the practical side of this link, paying special attention to the concepts of
exception and emergency. In the last one, we will deal with the issue of consent
of subject within the context of “end of history” and techno-scientific authority.

Keywords

Authority, Classical Political Philosophy, Leo Strauss, Modernity, Tyranny

MODERNİTE VE TİRANLIK: LEO STRAUSS’UN MODERNİTE ELEŞTİRİSİNDE TİRANLIK BOYUTU

Abstract

Çalışmamızda Leo Strauss’un modernite eleştirisi ile
tiranlık okumalarını aynı bağlam içinde değerlendirmeyi amaçladık. Strauss’un
çok boyutlu olan modernite eleştirisindeki tiranlık boyutunu göstermeye
çalıştık. Strauss için, modern siyaset felsefesi, tiranlığı anlamak ve
açıklamak konusunda büyük bir zafiyet içerisindedir. Bu zafiyeti aşmanın yolu,
Strauss’a göre, klasik siyaset felsefesinin öğretilerini büyük bir ciddiyetle
tekrardan ele almaktan geçmektedir. Bu yapıldığı takdirde, tiranlığın tarihin
derinliklerinde kalmış bir vakıa ve müessese olmadığı ve modernite ile birlikte
çok daha sofistike ve teknik bir hale gelmiş olduğu ortaya çıkacaktır. Dahası,
modernite ile tiranlık arasındaki örtük ontolojik ve epistemolojik bağları fark
edebilmek mümkün hale gelecektir. Strauss’un modernite eleştirisindeki tiranlık
boyutunu ele alan çalışmamız üç kısımdan oluşmaktadır. Birinci kısımda,
Strauss’un bakış açısından, modernite ve tiranlık arasındaki irtibat ortaya
konulmaya çalışılacaktır. İkinci kısımda, modernite ile tiranlık arasındaki
ilişki somutlaştırılmaya çalışılacak, bu doğrultuda, modernite ile olağanüstü
hal ve istisna arasındaki ilişki incelenecektir. Üçüncü kısımda, özne ve rıza
ilişkisi, tarihin sonu ve modern tekno-bilimsel iktidar bağlamında ele
alınacaktır.

Keywords

Klasik Siyaset Felsefesi, Leo Strauss, Modernite, Otorite, Tiranlık

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