Strauss, Ginzburg e il gesto più antico dell'umanità

The present contribution tries to clarify the methodological convergences between Leo Strauss and Carlo Ginzburg who, despite living in different contexts and eras, developed an epistemology of historical research that assigns great importance to the hidden signs. The ‘Evidential Paradigm’, consisting in the formulation of retrospective prophecies based on unnoticeable details, has allowed Ginzburg to propose an original interpretation of one of Freud’s most important clinical cases. The paper aims to show how the ‘Evidential Paradigm’ is involved in Strauss’ hermeneutics, which - relying on omissions, repetitions and contradictions in the texts - has attempted to rewrite the history of political thought to discover the esoteric teaching of political writings.