what is philo in philosophy

Philo of Alexandria was a Jewish philosopher who lived in Alexandria in the first half of the first century BCE. He was thoroughly educated in Greek philosophy and culture, and his work attempts to combine Plato and Moses into one philosophical system. Philo wrote extensively in Koine Greek on the intersection of philosophy, politics, and religion in his time, specifically exploring the connections between Greek Platonic philosophy and late Second Temple Judaism. His largest philosophical influence was Plato, and he drew heavily from the Timaeus and the Phaedrus, as well as from the Phaedo, Theaetetus, Symposium, Republic, and Laws. Philo is considered the founder of negative theology in the history of monotheistic faith, and he was also the founder of at least a kind of fideism. Philos works are mostly allegorical interpretations of the Torah, but also include histories and comments on philosophy.