Page "Reason" Paragraph 97

Some commentators have claimed that Western civilization can be almost defined by its serious testing of the limits of tension between " unaided " reason and faith in " revealed " truths — figuratively summarized as Athens and Jerusalem, respectively.

Leo Strauss spoke of a " Greater West " that included all areas under the influence of the tension between Greek rationalism and Abrahamic revelation, including the Muslim lands.

He was particularly influenced by the great Muslim philosopher Al-Farabi.

To consider to what extent Eastern philosophy might have partaken of these important tensions, Strauss thought it best to consider whether dharma or tao may be equivalent to Nature ( by which we mean physis in Greek ).

According to Strauss the beginning of philosophy involved the " discovery or invention of nature " and the " pre-philosophical equivalent of nature " was supplied by " such notions as ' custom ' or ' ways, which appear to be really universal in all times and places.

The philosophical concept of nature or natures as a way of understanding archai ( first principles of knowledge ) brought about a peculiar tension between reasoning on the one hand, and tradition or faith on the other.