Wisdom, Sense Perception, Nature and Philo's Gender Gradient

Abstract

Apanorama of female figures people the writings of Philo of Alexandria, ranging from the most sublime to the most debased. Amid this colorful array of characters are three female personifications of important conceptual constructs in Philo's worldview—Wisdom (ἡ σοφία), sense perception (ἡ αἴσθησις), and Nature (ἡ φύσις). Like the concepts they represent, these figures have little in common, and it is hard to reconcile their heterogeneity with what Philo says about the “female” as a category in itself. Here the data become particularly contradictory and confusing, for Philo's gender categories are among the most rigid and consistently applied principles of his thought. My purpose here is to try to unravel this rather glaring inconsistency between Philo's narrow perception of gender and the breadth of his female characterization as displayed by these three figures.