Leo Strauss was acutely aware of the limits of modern liberalism (its positivism, for example). It is with this in mind that he wished to link it dialectically to ancient liberalism, leading him also to observe that the notion of politics is not limited to the polis, but may be extended to the notion of politeia in the sense of sharing a common destiny ; but to what degree ? The notion of the political cannot be understood exclusively in a legal sense, but as constituting a way of life which does not, however, present itself as all-encompassing. The final object of philosophy is for Strauss to comprehend the truth affecting the human presence on Earth, not to impose it.