THE COURSE
A Book For Lovers of Wisdom
In the primer, you saw how Strauss reads between the lines — how a single detail like Piraeus can unlock the meaning of an entire dialogue. This course is where you learn to do that yourself.
On Tyranny is Strauss's commentary on Xenophon's Hiero, plus his famous debate with the Hegelian philosopher Alexandre Kojève about the relationship between wisdom and political power. The questions are enormous: Should philosophers advise tyrants? Can history end? Is the contemplative life superior to the political life — and does it matter?
These aren't academic questions. They're the questions anyone faces who has real influence and wants to use it well
THE BOOK
An inquiry into the relationship between two ways of life and two visions of the good.
On Tyranny is one of those books that can change your life. This course is designed to give you access to it, so that you can reread and enter into it and let it affect you until it transforms your understanding.
What You get
What's included:
Five video lectures walking through the entire text — Strauss's commentary, Kojève's response, and Strauss's restatement. Plus a bonus lecture on the Waves of Modernity. Approximately 3 hours total. Lifetime access. Designed to be studied alongside the book.
CURRiculum
A careful, clear walkthrough of Strauss on Xenophon, Kojeve on Strauss, and Strauss on Kojeve.
testimonials
Reading “On Tyranny” in parallel with the course, I was struck by how much more digestible the text and more understandable the context was with Michael’s guidance. Though I tend temperamentally to favor Strauss’ worldview, I’ve learned a lot from how Michael interprets Kojeve’s perspective and the context he presents around the two worldviews. Overall, this was a masterclass in pedagogy and evenhandedness and made me both want to learn more about Strauss through Michael’s lens and explore more of the ideas that this course opens up.
—Alex K. (@kaschuta), CURRENT STUDENT
He is whip smart and successfully imparts key teachings from often dense and somewhat opaque readings as only someone who truly lives and breathes the material can, while encouraging his students to critically examine the material themselves. I recommend taking anything Millerman teaches. It's worth it to be challenged to think in new ways, and to witness how a first class mind dissects philosophical questions. His academic sweet spots are Heidegger, Strauss, Dugin, and the classical philosophers like Plato. His Strauss and Plato classes were out of this world.
—M.C (Lawyer)
It's a very high value program. You really are passionate about these issues and questions and you bring that to your study and your teaching.
—Nick, Phd (computer science)
