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.