Leo Strauss and Emmanuel Levinas, two twentieth-century Jewish philosophers and two extremely provocative thinkers whose reputations have grown considerably over the last twenty years, are rarely studied together. This is due to the disparate interests of many of their intellectual heirs. Strauss has influenced political theorists and policy makers on the right while Levinas has been championed in the humanities by different cadres associated with postmodernist thought. In Leo Strauss and Emmanuel Levinas: Philosophy and the Politics of Revelation, Leora Batnitzky brings together these two seemingly incongruous contemporaries, demonstrating that they often had the same philosophical sources and their projects had many formal parallels. While such a comparison is valuable in itself for better understanding each figure, it also raises profound questions in the current debate on the definitions of 'religion', suggesting new ways that religion makes claims on both philosophy and politics.

The work of Levinas is cited frequently and favorably by postmodernists, while that of Strauss has been appropriated by neo-conservative politicos. Batnitzky (religion, Princeton U.) brings these two together in a unique take, not as disparate philosophers but as operatives within similar philosophic sources with many formal parallels. She adds nuance to Strauss and strips a suitable portion of postmodernist paint off Levinas, starting by comparing their respective thoughts on philosophy and its role in religion (and vice versa), the argument of totality and infinity, the separable self, the ever-rising specter of Descartes, messianic aspirations, the contributions of Rosenzweig to both and both subjects' work on Cohen, the law as it applies to Judaism and Christianity, Zionism and prophetic politics, the retrieval of classical Jewish sources, and theology in politics. Batnitzky closes with thoughts about whether modernity is worth defending. Annotation ©2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

'Leora Batnitzky brings together two seemingly incongruous contemporaries, demonstrating that their projects had many parallels.'

Part I. Philosophy: 1. Introduction: Strauss and Levinas between Athens and Jerusalem; 2. Levinas's defense of modern philosophy: how Strauss might respond; Part II. Revelation: 3. 'Freedom depends upon its bondage': The shared debt to Franz Rosenzweig; 4. An irrationalist rationalism: Levinas's Transformation of Hermann Cohen; 5. The possibility of pre-modern Rationalism: Strauss's Transformation of Hermann Cohen; Part III. Politics: 6. Against Utopia: law and its limits; 7. Zionism and the discovery of prophetic politics; 8. Politics and Hermeneutics: Strauss's and Levinas's retrieval of classical Jewish sources; 9. Revelation and commandment.