Philo of Alexandria - Books and Journals

critical studies 1999 121
This monograph is the definitive version of the author’s 1994 Berkeley dissertation
(= RRS 9457). It describes the process whereby Stoic philosophy absorbed
cosmological and psychological doctrines from Plato’s Timaeus,whichthensubsequently
influenced the way that the Platonic dialogue was read in later antiquity.
The main authors discussed after Plato and the early Stoics are Posidonius,
Philo, Antiochus of Ascalon and Cicero, Various Middle Platonists and Calcidius.
Chapter three is entitled Philo Judaeus: immanence and transcendence
(pp. 135–165). It revisits themes already discussed in RRS 9548 and 9566. The
first part of the chapter discusses background issues, such as the relation between
Stoicism and Platonism in Philo’s thought. The second part examines the doctrines
of God and the principles of the universe with an emphasis on important
texts in Opif. The third part focuses on psychological themes and especially
the relation between cosmology and the structure of the human soul. Reviews:
A. P. Bos, SPhA 12 (2000) 226–229; P.-H. Poirier, LThPh 57 (2001) 359–360.
(DTR)
9966. D.T.Runia,‘ABriefHistoryoftheTermKosmos Noétos from
PlatotoPlotinus,’inJ.J.Cleary(ed.),Traditions of Platonism: Essays in
Honour of John Dillon (Aldershot etc. 1999) 151–172.
The article studies the origins and development of the term and concept of
the κσμς νητς in the period from Plato to Plotinus. It chiefly concentrates
on the appearance and use of the specific term, but this involves studying the
concept as well. Although the expression does not appear as such in Plato, its
origins can clearly be traced to various Platonic passages in the Republic, Timaeus
and Philebus. The earliest extant author to use it explicitly is Philo, in whose
works we find at least 30 instances. These references go in a number of different
directions, being either related to cosmological or epistemological concerns.
Thereafter the author discusses usage by other 1st century sources such as
Timaeus Locrus and the doxographer Aëtius, 2nd century Middle Platonist
authors, Alexandrian Church Fathers such as Clement and Origen, and finally
Plotinus. At the end of the article five ‘modest conclusions’ are drawn. (1) The use
of the term is less frequent than one might think. (2) Historically the strongest
connections are linked to the concept of the model in the Timaeus.(3)Thereis
also a tradition connecting the term with epistemological doctrines. (4) In pre-
Plotinian texts little overt reflection is found on the contents and organization
of the intelligible cosmos, but this complacency is broken in Plotinus. (5) The
evidence available makes it risky to speak of a ‘brief history’ at all. (DTR)
9967. D.T.Runia,Filone di Alessandria nella prima letteratura cristiana:
Uno studio d’insieme, a cura di R. Radice, Pubblicazioni del Centro
di Richerche di Metafisica: Collana Platonismo e filosofia patristica. Studi
e testi 14 (Milan 1999).
Italian translation, prepared by Roberto Radice, of the monograph first published
in 1993 (= RRS 9373). The Italian version differs in two important respects