 The controversial and difficult question is why these medieval thinkers chose the allegorical form, and whether the text can be understood without its allegorical form. Avicenna tells us that what he purports to do by allegory is to convey one message to the “many” in sensible imagery they can understand, while conveying a different message to the philosophically minded few (Heath 1992, 150–153). Neoplatonic and Christian writers, although citing the importance of not ‘casting one’s pearls before swine’, also cite the need to provide access through the senses to a non-sensible reality and the need to use obvious metaphors so that their language will not be taken for a literally true representation of the divine. In the secondary literature, the most common interpretation of the reason for the allegorical form is that the allegory is an heuristic device that makes the difficult and abstract message easier to understand. On this view, the allegorical form can be stripped away without changing the meaning of the text. Others have argued that for some writers, the allegorical form is chosen because the mystical message or account of spiritual union with the good exceeds what can be expressed in the literal language of logic and argument (Sweeney 2006, 38–61, 157–175). Some have argued, further, that the indirection of Maimonides’ Guide, for example, is based both on the inability to represent the divine nature but also, failing that, designed to transform the reader making his/her way to God (Whitman 2000, 51; Harvey 1988, 69–71). On this view, the allegorical form is an essential aspect of the text and, hence, cannot be excised without detriment to the author’s meaning. Lastly, some argue that the motive for allegory is esoteric. On this view, most famously propounded by Leo Strauss and his followers, writers fearing persecution and misinterpretation decided to “hide” their true views behind the façade of allegory, in order to protect both themselves and their message. (For more on esotericism, see section 4 below.)