Gabe, "one of Venus' Chosen"

“I disagree not only with Strauss but with Heidegger as well. The point that you raise is closely connected with Strauss's remark to the effect that I work from Dilthey rather than from Nietzsche. That I regard as a fair statement. What it means is that for me the tradition remains a living tradition. I am a Platonist. I agree with Plato, who said that there is no city in the world in which the ideal city is not present in some ultimate sense. You also know the famous statement about the gang of robbers whose members need some sense of justice in order to get along with one another. Well, that is indeed my perhaps overly conservative position. As you know, we are formed between the ages of fourteen and eighteen. Academic teachers always come too late. In the best instance, they can train young scholars, but their function is not to build up character.” Hans-Georg Gadamer