Page "Leo Strauss" Paragraph 14

Strauss's general " hermeneutical " argument — rearticulated throughout his subsequent writings ( most notably in The City and Man )— is that, prior to the XIX century, Western scholars commonly understood that philosophical writing is not at home in any polity, no matter how liberal.

Insofar as it questions conventional wisdom at its roots, philosophy must guard itself especially against those readers who believe themselves authoritative, wise, and liberal defenders of the status quo.

In questioning established opinions, or in investigating the principles of morality, philosophers of old found it necessary to convey their messages in an oblique manner.

Their " art of writing " was the art of exoteric communication.

This was especially apparent in medieval times, when heterodox political thinkers wrote under the threat of the Inquisition or comparably obtuse tribunals.