Joseph Cropsey

Joseph Cropsey is a Distinguished Service Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Chicago.

Cropsey was a collaborator and literary executor of the political philosopher Leo Strauss.

Questioned about the political impact of Strauss's work by Seymour Hersh, Cropsey said that common sense suggested that a certain amount of deception was necessary in politics:

"That people in government have to be discreet in what they say publicly is so obvious - If I tell you the truth I can't but help the enemy.'" But there is nothing in Strauss's work he added, that "favors preemptive action. What it favors is prudence and sound judgement. If you could have got rid of Hitler in the 1930s, who's not going to be in favor of that? You don't need Strauss to reach that conclusion."

Affiliations

• John M. Olin Center for Inquiry into the Theory and Practice of Democracy

Joseph Cropsey, Department of Political Science, University of Chicago, accessed 4 September 2009.

Shadia B. Drury, Leo Strauss and the American Right, St Martin's Press, 1999, p.14.

Seymour M. Hersh, Chain of Command, Penguin, 2005, p.221.