Philo of Alexandria and Philosophical Discourse

Philo of Alexandria fashioned a new Jewish discourse from the writings of Moses and the best of Greek philosophy

Greek authors likened philosophical discourse in the Hellenistic and Roman eras to an orchard. Logic, physics, and ethics served as the orchard walls, the trees, and the fruit of this enterprise. In a similar manner, this collection of essays, written by an international group of scholars and devoted to Philo of Alexandrias fashioning of a new Jewish philosophical discourse, harvests the fruits of many disciplines - including the study of Ancient Judaism and History of Religions, Ancient Philosophy, and the Classics - and brings them to bear on one of the Roman periods most prolific and creative Jewish thinkers and public figures. Essays treat Philos relationship to the varied schools of philosophy: Socratic thought, Pyrrhonism, Epicureanism, Pythagoreism, Stoicism, and Middle Platonism all played a role in the seedbed of Philos orchard. The volume also includes a new catalogue of Philos library and a study of Philos reception in Christian philosophical discourse.