The ambiguity of nature : Philo of Alexandria's views on the sensible world
There is a need to establish what Philo considers the ethical status of the sensible world prior to discerning how that world may function in his understanding of the ethical life. Through close textual analysis, this study argues that Philoâs ambivalence about the ethical status of the sensible world, while on the surface contradictory, is best understood perspectivally. The âlowerâ perspective sees the world positively, as a means of knowing and becoming like God, while the âhigherâ perspective sees it negatively, as something that must be surpassed and displaced in order to reach perfection. If so, these dual perspectives, however, suggest that Philo ultimately holds a cosmological pessimism. Such a position would signify his departure from the main lines of Scripture and Platonism (as well as an early Christian figure like Paul of Tarsus) and verge on conceptual instability. The thesis begins with the context in Philo: the differentiation between his two commentary series and its bearing on interpretation, and his conceptualisation of Judaism and Hellenism. The core of the study is a lexical-semantic investigation of six key terms which pertain to the ethical status of the sensible world. The
Anderson, C. A.
The ambiguity of nature : Philo of Alexandria's views on the sensible world. There is a need to establish what Philo considers the ethical status of the sensible world prior to discerning how that world may function in his understanding of the ethical life. Through close textual analysis, this study argues that Philoâs ambivalence about the ethical status of the sensible world, while on the surface contradictory, is best understood perspectivally. The âlowerâ perspective sees the world positively, as a means of knowing and becoming like God, while the âhigherâ perspective sees it negatively, as something that must be surpassed and displaced in order to reach perfection. If so, these dual perspectives, however, suggest that Philo ultimately holds a cosmological pessimism. Such a position would signify his departure from the main lines of Scripture and Platonism (as well as an early Christian figure like Paul of Tarsus) and verge on conceptual instability. The thesis begins with the context in Philo: the differentiation between his two commentary series and its bearing on interpretation, and his conceptualisation of Judaism and Hellenism. The core of the study is a lexical-semantic investigation of six key terms which pertain to the ethical status of the sensible world. The
ambiguity nature philo alexandria view sensible world need_establish philo considers ethical status sensible world prior discern world may function ethical_life close_textual analysis study argues philo ambivalence ethical status sensible world surface contradictory best_understood lower perspective see world positively mean know become like god higher perspective see negatively something must surpass displaced order_reach perfection dual perspective however suggest philo ultimately hold cosmological pessimism position would signify departure main line scripture platonism well early_christian figure like paul verge conceptual instability begin context philo differentiation commentary series bearing interpretation conceptualisation judaism hellenism core_study lexical_semantic investigation key term pertain ethical status sensible world