Leo Strauss

German-American political philosopher at the University of Chicago who argued for 'esoteric writing' — that great philosophers concealed heterodox views between the lines to avoid persecution — and who read Plato, Maimonides, and Machiavelli as making claims deeper than their surface text reveals.

Developed the theory of esoteric writing — that Plato, Maimonides, and Machiavelli wrote books with a surface meaning for ordinary readers and a deeper meaning for philosophical initiates who know how to read between the lines — a reading method that revolutionized the history of philosophy.