From stoicism to platonism: The difficult case of philo of Alexandria’s de providentia I

Abstract

This volume addresses the hypothesis that we should speak of a transition from Stoicism to Platonism as the dominant Greco-Roman philosophy in the period 100 BCE to 100 CE. It is only natural that an important place is reserved for the Jewish philosopher and exegete Philo of Alexandria in these reflections. Not only does he fall chronologically right in the middle of the period, but his voluminous works also contain numerous references to Stoic and Platonic doctrines. These have been extensively, if not exhaustively, studied in a century and a half of scholarship. Of course it must be immediately recognised that Philo is not a philosopher like most of the others discussed here. As I have sho..