Since we are nearing the end of a Presidential administration, it behooves us to take stock of what has happened over the past eight years. One of the most important intellectual developments to have accompanied the Bush administration is the significant expansion of the literature on “noble lies,” as promoted by the cabal of neoconservatives in the Bush cabinet through their intellectual mentor, the political philosopher Leo Strauss. This will be a diary exploring Strauss, “noble lies,” and the function such lies supposedly perform in our political culture. I conclude by asking why “noble lies” are really necessary anymore. Do we need them to protect ourselves from the truth about abrupt climate change?
(crossposted at Big Orange)