Publication: The Beginnings of Jewish Philosophy in Antiquity

René Bloch

The Beginnings of Jewish Philosophy in Antiquity

An invitation to discover a little-known aspect of the Greco-Roman world and ancient philosophy.

During the Hellenistic period, certain Jewish authors set out to explore points of convergence between Jewish tradition and Greek thought. We are thus in the early days of the history of Jewish philosophy. All too often, the concerns of thinkers from this period have been reduced to simple dichotomies: Judaism and Hellenism, philosophy and Jewish law, Judaism and Greek myth. Yet the issue is more complex.

René Bloch seeks to deconstruct these representations by drawing on the work of Philo of Alexandria, an exegete and philosopher of the Hellenistic and Roman periods. He analyzes Philo’s writings on cosmopolitanism, Jewish and Greek mythological thought, mysticism, and dreams, before examining the fundamental theme of the Jewish diaspora. Delving into the heart of the discussions and theoretical contradictions of ancient Jewish philosophy, he illuminates its remarkable place in the Greco-Roman world and the way in which it helped shape the philosophy of Antiquity.

Bloch, R., The Beginnings of Jewish Philosophy in Antiquity, Paris, Collège de France, “Conférences ” series, 2026, 120 pp.

ISBN: 978-2-7226-0877-1
Price: €18
Publication date: June 18, 2026

René Bloch is a professor of Jewish studies at the University of Bern and a specialist in the literature and history of ancient Judaism. His work focuses primarily on Hellenistic Judaism, particularly Philo of Alexandria and Flavius Josephus. He has also authored numerous works on Greco-Roman ethnography, the history of antisemitism, and myth in Jewish thought.