Leo Strauss proposed that some religious philosophers, like Maimonides, concealed their true philosophical beliefs, which might have leaned towards reason and contradicted religious doctrine, behind religious language and allegory.
It’s a tough call here because one would have to either piece together clues to justify this position or have it as an assumption rather than taking a stance of “what you see is what they say”.
Still, knowing the times, its not unreasonable to believe there might be masking philosophy under a religious guise. Strauss’ own background certainly justifies his position as a person but does it do so academically?
The times aren’t always favorable “godless reason” – and it’s often topical. In today’s times, philosophers who have extreme rationalist positions such as some forms of utilitarianism can get into hot water with their ideas so it’s not so strange (if we view humanism as a kind of common religious value in our times for example with utilitarianism taking the role of a Maimonides from Strauss’ view)
Yet can we know the hidden thoughts? Did Maimonides privately agree with Aristotle about an eternal universe? Or was he ‘weighing both sides’, giving each a fair shake? I think one of the wonders of Maimonides is that he WAS so effective at the fine art of balancing that there may be no way to know for sure whether he was driven to hide his true beliefs or if he was operating through the pursuit of truth through a religious framework.
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