"Noble" Lies
This was an unexpected but perceptive analysis of neocon philosophy from my current reading:*
Platonic elitism, unfortunately, is not merely a matter of ancient history; it is still drastically afflicting the human race even in the twenty-first century. The architects of American foreign policy who carried out the imperialist assaults on Afghanistan and Iraq are known to be zealous disciples of political philosopher Leo Strauss, an admirer of Plato. "The effect of Strauss's teaching is to convince his acolytes that they are the natural ruling elite," said Shaida Drury, who has written extensively on Strauss's ideas and their consequences.78 "Leo Strauss," she continued, "was a great believer in the efficacy and usefulness of lies in politics" who "justifies his position by an appeal to Plato's concept of the noble lie." Straussian influence was all too apparent in the Bush administration's use of deception and blatant falsehoods to convince the American public of the need to go to war against Iraq. "The ancient philosophers whom Strauss most cherished believed that the unwashed masses were not fit for either truth or liberty, and that giving them these sublime treatures would be like throwing pearls before swine."79
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*Clifford D. Conner, A People's History of Science: Miners, Midwives, and "Low Mechanicks" (New York: Nation Books, 2005), p. 145.
78Footnote in source:
See Shadia Drury, The Political Ideas of Leo Strauss; and Drury, Leo Strauss and the American Right.
The full citations from the bibliography:
Shadia Drury, The Political Ideas of Leo Strauss (London: Macmillan, 1988).
Shadia Drury, Leo Strauss and the American Right (New York: Palgrave, Macmillan, 1999).
79Footnote in source:
Shadia Drury, "Noble Lies and Perpetual War."
The full citation from the bibliography:
Shadia Drury, "Noble Lies and Perpetual Was: Leo Strauss, the Neo-Cons, and Iraq." An interview with Shadia Drury by Danny Postel, October 16, 2003. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article5010.htm