 Yet if we understand Strauss’s rather minimal claims about esotericism as an antidote to what he called the theologico-political predicament of modernity, then this reading of Strauss (regardless of what various Straussians claim) is not quite right. As we have seen, Strauss develops his conception of esotericism in an attempt to rethink the relation between theory and praxis. Esotericism is not merely a political, or instrumental, tool for Strauss but also concerns the very nature of truth. Esotericism points to what Strauss regards as the critical problem of philosophy, which concerns the self-sufficiency of reason. Halbertal is right that “Humans, even those who devote themselves to truth, are always embedded within the boundaries of the human condition” (CR, p. 163). But this should not be a criticism of Strauss but is better understood as describing the very impetus for the dialogical structure of Strauss’s account of esotericism.