I spent virtually my entire evening working on the Ancient/Medieval political philosophy annotated bibliography, aside from a quick laundry run.  It took longer than I thought it would take.  At times it felt like I was revisiting comprehensive exams, except for this:  I was pulling together the information to satisfy myself, not a committee, not a faculty member, not someone who holds ultimate approval of a credential over my head.   Thus, it was a truly enjoyable exercise.

I think what motivated me to jump into this project tonight was running across a number of books on Amazon.com earlier:  first, a book on Leo Strauss (Leo Strauss: The Straussians, and the Study of the American Regime) which looks incredibly compelling given my inclination towards the Claremont-Straussian (or West Coast Straussian) view of the Founding; second, two books by Michael Zuckert on American political thought (Natural Rights and the New Republicanism and the followup The Natural Rights Republic:  Studies in the Foundation of the American Political Tradition).  I've never read Zuckert before, although I have heard his wife Catherine lecture.  From what I understand, Zuckert's view of the Founding is compatible with the Claremont view in many respects, although interestingly it draws praise from Tom Pangle as well.  I've heard his critique of J.G.A. Pocock and Gordon Wood is devastating.  We shall see!

It's bedtime.

Copyright (c) 2000, Kevin L. Whited