Philo of Alexandria’s Ethical Discourse: Living in the Power of Piety

This book illustrates the way Philo of Alexandria moves beyond Hellenistic Jewish and Greek philosophical traditions by developing reframing piety from a subordinate to a foundational virtue. 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 philo