Abstract

When considered out of the context of the genesis of his philosophical project of a rebirth of classical political philosophy, Leo Strauss's interpretation of Islamic and Arabic philosophy raises doubts as to its philological accuracy. Strauss's works on al-Fārābī and the Islamic sources of Maimonides, which he examined repeatedly over the course of his career, should in fact be considered in the light of his greater philosophical project and of his conviction that any enquiry in the realm of the history of philosophy is at the same time also a philosophical enquiry. The aim of this article is to re-examine Strauss' works on Islamic and Jewish philosophy of the Middle Ages, which had a large influence on the contemporary historiography of medieval Arabic philosophy, in the light of his philosophical project and in the context of the contemporary discussion on Orientalism.