The problem of Socrates
Léo Strauss

338

•

Interprétation
The symbol « -> »
is

79.

is

written instead of thèse bracketed words in the manuscript.
lecture as delivered in

80. Hère

where the tape of the
only Professor

Annapohs breaks

off

(cf.

note 29).

« The problem of Socrates » was delivered as a lecture on April 17 1970, on the Annapolis campus of St. John’s Collège, Professor Strauss’ s daughter, Professor Jenny Clay, of the Department of Classics at the University of Viry

Accordingly,

we hâve

Strauss ‘s

manuscript of the remainder of the lecture.
distinct

81. Beneath the Une hère there are added
first,

two

groups of words in the manuscript. The

other.

which begins under the word « Thing-in-itself, consists of twolines, one undemeath the The top line is « (Kant) nature *an sich’ unknowable. » The bottom Une appears to be « but for Heidegger and Nietzsche: no Beyond or Without. » (This line, and especially the word which we hâve interpreted as « for, » is difficult to read, and perhaps we are in error about it.) The second

—

has generously made available to the editors a copy of the manuscript. Also, a taperecording of the lecture in the St. John’ s Collège library in Annapolis was available to the editors, as were copies of an anonymous transcripginia,

of that tape. Unfortunately, the tape is broken off after about forty-five minutes, with nearly half of the manuscript still unread, and the transcription
tion

group of words, which

is

found undemeath the words « philosophy of nature (Hegel) »is

« nature as

also ends where The tape does.
editors

Still,

the transcription, as corrected

by the

mind

in its

Anderssein. »
notation above the line directs us to insert hère the foUowing

two sentences, which are written at the bottom of the page in the manuscript. « Heidegger has something to do with mysticism if mysticism is the discovery of the life of the deityin the depths of the human heart. But the mystery which Heidegger daims to hâve discovered is meant to be deeper, and less based on
82.

A

on the basis of the tape itself, offers a version of the first part of the lecture which differs from the manuscript in a number of places and which sometimes appears to be superior to it. Thus, we hâve chosen to give the recorded version almost equalweight with the manuscript as a basis for our published text. When the lecture as delivered merely contains a word or words

questionable presuppositions, than the mysteries of God. »
83.

The word « ,Ding »

(with the preceding

comma)

is

written

undemeath

the

word « Ware »
is

in

the manuscript. 84.
at the

A

notation above the line directs us to insert hère thefoUowing sentence, which
in the manuscript. « In this

written

bottom of the page

way, and only in

this

way, Heidegger upholds

the universalist

—

the trans-national or trans-cultural

—

intention of philosophy. »

85. Hère, at the

4b, » to which

we referred
far.

end of Professor Strauss ‘s manuscript, occurs the marginal notation *’ Continue in note 29, and whichdirects us back to the portion of the lecture that we

At the beginning of this portion of the lecture, a new paragraph begins with the foUowing sentence, which has been crossed out: « However this may be, can one answer the question of the worth of what Socrates stood for, nay, can one properiy formulate it, if one does not know in the first place what it is for which he stood. » As the reader wUlnotice, this sentence is nearly the same as the one that immediately précèdes the marginal notation,  »Continue 4b. » Achâve omitted so
cordingly, in tuming
86.

we hâve included thèse in brackets. In the other cases where the two authorities differ and where we hâve preferred the version in the lecture as delivered, we hâve again included it in brackets, but in thèse cases we hâve also…