Philo Of Alexandria On Virtues

In the treatise On Virtues, Philo of Alexandria demonstrates how Moses, the constitution he established, and the community that follows its laws embody certain moral ideals (courage, humanity, repentance, and nobility) that were widely admired in the Greco-Roman world.

In the treatise On Virtues, Philo of Alexandria demonstrates how Moses, the constitution he established, and the community that follows its laws embody certain moral ideals (courage, humanity, repentance, and nobility) that were widely admired in the Greco-Roman world.

"This book examines Philo's understanding of the acquisition of virtues and the avoidance of vices using the Greek concept of piety as a central virtue in his ethical discourse. Naveros exceptionally shows how Philo construes his understanding of living ethically within both the Hellenistic Jewish and Greek traditions"--

An ancient Roman history text, translated by Charles Yonge, and written by the Greek philosopher Philo of Alexandria. The Embassy to Gaius was a meeting between Gaius Caligula, the then Roman Emperor, and a large contingent of Jews. They wished to overturn Gaius' plans to have a huge statue of Zeus installed in the temple. Gaius' hatred of the Jews is legendary. This book is important because it helps to understand the relations between Jews and Romans in the first century A.D.

An affordable edition of Philo! A contemporary of Jesus and Paul, Philo wrote extensively on the Hebrew Scriptures and other Jewish topics, but few have read his work because all available sets were pricey. This edition features modern type, passages keyed to the Loeb referencing system, and several newly translated sections not found in other editions.

What is good character? What are the traits of a good person? How should virtues be cultivated? How should vices be avoided? The history of Jewish literature is filled with reflection on questions of character and virtue such as these, reflecting a wide range of contexts and influences. Beginning with the Bible and culminating with twenty-first-century feminism and environmentalism, Jewish Virtue Ethics explores thirty-five influential Jewish approaches to character and virtue. Virtue ethics has been a burgeoning field of moral inquiry among academic philosophers in the postwar period. Although Jewish ethics has also flourished as an academic (and practical) field, attention to the role of virtue in Jewish thought has been underdeveloped. This volume seeks to illuminate its centrality not only for readers primarily interested in Jewish ethics but also for readers who take other approaches to virtue ethics, including within the Western virtue ethics tradition. The original essays written for this volume provide valuable sources for philosophical reflection.

De Vita Contemplativa is known for its depiction of a philosophical group of Jewish men and women known as the ‘Therapeutae’. This commentary sets the treatise in its historical context and explores Philo’s aims in depicting them as he did.