Eros Turannos: Leo Strauss & Alexandre Kojeve Debate on Tyranny

Eros Turannos analyzes the debates between Leo Strauss and Alexandre Kojeve. Their debates are contextualized through the Platonic notion of a likeness between the psuche (soul) and the polis (city). This classical notion is updated through contemporary philosopher William Desmond’s linked accounts of eros and tyranny. Conclusions are drawn on the nature of the debaters’ political philosophies-on their potential inclination toward the advocacy or rejection of tyranny and on the role that their differing conceptions of eros played. It is suggested that the Platonic perspective on eros and tyranny remains an important way of looking at the nature of tyranny, even in modernity.