Philo of Alexandria&#039;s Ethical Discourse: Living in the Power of Piety

Nélida Naveros Córdova, CDP

doi:10.5771/9781978702264

Summary

Philo of Alexandria’s Ethical Discourse: Living in the Power of Piety proposes a fresh approach to better understand Philo’s ethics exploring the virtue of piety. In this exceptionally well-researched book, Nélida Naveros Córdova analyzes five major uses of piety in Philo’s treatises— piety and the Decalogue; piety as a foundational virtue; piety as the opposite of impiety; the practice of piety, and the relationship between piety and love of humanity. Naveros carefully examines each of these five uses within both the Hellenistic Jewish and Greek philosophical traditions, focusing particularly on piety’s primary role in Philo’s teaching about the acquisition of virtues and the avoidance of vices. Naveros argues that in his ethical discourse, Philo incorporates language familiar in ancient Greek philosophical ethical systems to attribute qualities and powers to the virtue of piety. This book illustrates the way Philo moves beyond both Hellenistic Jewish and Greek philosophical traditions by comprehensively showing how he develops the place of piety, from being a subordinate virtue in Greek catalogue of virtues to becoming a foundational virtue. Naveros brings evidence from ancient Greco-Roman and major Hellenistic Jewish texts as well as modern secondary literature in order to argue and support a plausible case for the understanding of Philo’s unique configuration of his own ethical discourse, his view of virtue ethics, and his philosophical stance. To date, this is an original study on Philo’s ethics, and the first to offer the fullest evaluation of piety within the categories of ancient ethical systems.

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Bibliographic data

Edition: 1/2018
Copyright Year: 2018
ISBN-Print: 978-1-9787-0225-7
ISBN-Online: 978-1-9787-0226-4
Publisher: Lexington, Lanham
Language: English
Pages: 216
Product Type: Monograph

1. Contents No access
2. Tables and Figures No access
3. Abbreviations No access
4. Acknowledgments No access
5. Introduction No access
Chapter One: The Practice of Jewish Piety in Philo’s Hellenistic Jewish Context No access Pages 18 - 64
Chapter Two: Philo’s Decalogue: Εὐσέβεια for the Service of God and Other Human Beings No access Pages 65 - 84
Chapter Three: Εὐσέβεια as the Foundational Virtue in Philo’s Ethical Discourse No access Pages 85 - 102
Chapter Four: Eὐσέβεια as the Opposite of Ἀσέβεια No access Pages 103 - 119
Chapter Five: The Practice of Εὐσέβεια: The Acquisition of Perfection and Knowledge of God No access Pages 120 - 143
Chapter Six: Εὐσέβεια and Φιλανθρωπία No access Pages 144 - 155
Chapter Seven: Εὐσέβεια the Way to Become Divine No access Pages 156 - 181
Conclusion No access Pages 182 - 187
Bibliography No access Pages 188 - 203
Index No access Pages 204 - 213
About the Author No access Pages 214 - 216