Abstract

Recent research has neglected Philo's philosophy. Philo is an enigma to scholars, not primarily because his ideas grow from the "Hellenistic mixing bowl of Alexandria," nor even because of the difficult literary form of his writings, but because of the ambiguity of his position as a whole. Is he a philosopher, a mystic, a Pharisee? Where does the real Philo speak, and what is a Nebenstroemung? In answer to these questions, most recent scholars hold either that his philosophy is not the most important part in Philo, or at least that the safest approach to him lies in non-philosophic material. In any case, Philo's philosophy has been neglected, and thus Wolfson's work fills a real gap: for whatever the merit of these views, Philo is a philosopher as well, and one who even before the present study was known to have exerted great influence on subsequent philosophy.