Rules for the Guide

Until the modern era, when freedom of religion became dominant in the West, and atheism became increasingly associated with privilege and the ruling class, philosophers often hid their more subversive teachings in their books, and only patient, thorough study could piece them together. Philosophers did not make this explicit, for a variety of obvious reasons. 

An exception is Maimonides. In his Guide of the Perplexed, he identifies seven causes for contradictions in books:

1. A book compiles remarks from multiple sources, and sources often contradict each other 
2. The author has changed his mind about something in the course of writing the book, and left both statements intact 
3. Not every statement is to be interpreted literally. Metaphors, illustrations, analogies, etc. may appear contradictory but are not interpreted strictly 
4. Of two contradictory statements, one has not been explained properly; when it has, the contradiction disappears 
5. In teaching a student, something difficult to understand is mentioned or used as a premise in explaining something easier to understand. Later, in the appropriate place, that obscure matter is stated exactly, with precision 
6. The contradiction is concealed and manifests only after many premises and arguments expose it. It may escape the attention of the author, and escapes the attention of scholars who write books. 
7. In very difficult subjects, it is necessary to conceal some parts and disclose others. Sometimes this means the discussion proceeds on the basis of a certain premise, whereas in another place sometimes the discussion proceeds on the basis of a different, contradictory premise. In such cases the vulgar must remain unaware of the contradiction, and the author uses some device to conceal it.

Causes 1-2 are found in the biblical commentary Maimonides used and taught - the Mishnah, the Talmud, etc. Causes 3-4 are found in the Old Testament, in what Maimonides refers to as the books of the prophets. He raises the possibility that Cause 7 is found in the Bible, but "this is a matter for investigation" later. Cause 5 is found in the books of "those who know the truth," i.e. the wisest of philosophers. Cause 6 is found "in most of the books of authors and commentators other than those we have mentioned"; that is, not the works of those who know the truth, though sometimes Cause 7 is present there, too. More biblical commentary (Midrash) and Jewish liturgical ritual are given as examples. Cause 7 is found in his book, and by extension (note the clever wording), in the books of the wise philosophers as well. Of the seven causes, three of them reduce to inchoate noise, and two of them are used in Sacred Scripture. Maimonides himself only cares about the fifth and seventh causes. "Know this, grasp its true meaning, and remember it very well so as not to become perplexed by some of its chapters." 

"If you wish to grasp the totality of what this treatise contains, so that nothing of it will escape you, then you must connect its chapters one with another: and when reading a given chapter, your intention must be not only to understand the totality of the subject of  that chapter, but also to grasp each word that occurs in it in the course of the speech, even if that word does not belong to the intention of the chapter. For the diction of this treatise has not been chosen at haphazard, but with great exactness and exceeding precision, and with care to avoid failing any obscure point. And nothing has been mentioned out place, save with a view to explaining some matter in its proper place." 

The philosophers, when communicating their thoughts to others, are very careful to write exactly what and how they want to, and their works are crafted wholes, like a sculpture or a painting, with everything in its intended place. Using this principle of interpretation, and being alert to the fifth and seventh causes of contradiction, is how I will approach these old, so-called esoteric books.