Modern America

Professor Martin Diamond was a student of the great political philosophy teacher Leo Strauss. I found a lecture of his on the Intercollegiate Studies Institute Website the other day.

In this lecture, Diamond analyzes the American experiment through the Straussian dichotomy of Ancient / Modern political thought. His principle argument is that the American regime is thoroughly modern, through and through. He supports this claim with textual evidence from the Federalist Papers and Tocqueville. He also argues that modern character is not wholly a bad thing - even if the Founders accepted certain debased aspects of modern political philosophy. e.g., they accepted Machiavelli's notorious lowering of political possibilities - his claim that politics is the art of the possible, not the quest for virtue. Diamond goes on to explore how other influential modern thinkers influenced the American regime.

If you want to better understand America and why it is the way it is, then this lecture is for you! Listen here