Strauss on Liberal Education
A Conversation with Steven Smith
12.00-1.30pm | Friday, February 9
Elm Library, 31 Whitney Avenue
In 1959 the scholar of political philosophy Leo Strauss gave a commencement address to the graduates of the University of Chicago’s program of liberal education for adults. He offered a succinct and provocative vision of the nature of liberal education, beginning with the claim that “liberal education is education in culture or toward culture.” What did Strauss mean by this and what lessons does his address hold for us today?
Steven Smith is Alfred Cowles Professor of Political Science at Yale University.
This event is open to all members of the Yale community. Lunch will be served.
RSVP
The finished product of a liberal education is a cultured human being.
—Leo Strauss