Talk of the crisis of the west and of the future of western civilization has only increased in recent years, as the horrors and destruction of the twentieth century continue to extend into the twenty-first century, albeit in new forms. This book is a study of two twentieth-century thinkers who, writing immediately prior to and after the Nazi genocide, consider the parameters of the west to restore what both claim is western civilization's universal glory and moral importance. Significantly, the philosophies of Leo Strauss (1899–1973) and Emmanuel Levinas (1906–95), while particular to their place and time, both have contemporary resonance in present debates about the crisis and status of “the west.” Strauss, especially, has become, depending on one's political commitments, the hero or the villain of the United States' war on terror. This is the case despite the fact that Strauss's thought in no way concerns concrete public policy. Less in public political debate, but more in academic political debates, Levinas's thought, or the purported implications thereof, has become a rallying cry against the arrogance of the powerful oppressing weaker “others” precisely because the powerful are unable, or unwilling, to affirm the “alterity” of the “other.” And this is the case despite the fact that Levinas, far more than Strauss, defended “the west” against its “oriental” others. This study questions both of these views of Strauss and Levinas, not only because, as I will argue, they are incorrect, but also, and in fact more so, because the philosophies of Strauss and Levinas deserve greater attention for their contemporary significance.