Reading between the lines - Leo Strauss and the history of early modern philosophy

Philosophical texts of the early modern era in which sanctions were imposed on those who entertained deviating views require a particular hermeneutical approach: according to Leo Strauss the interpreter's task is to uncover their 'esoteric' messages.

The contributions both address the methodological problems of Strauss' hermeneutics and discuss paradigmatic cases of candidates for a 'reading between the lines': Hobbes, Spinoza, and Bayle.