| Summary: | This thesis aims to contribute to the scholarly understanding of the opinion(s) that ancient philosophers had towards laymen. While various intricacies of ancient philosophical thought have been extensively probed by scholars, the understanding that philosophers had of laymen has received little attention. To begin to address this lacuna in scholarly knowledge this study will attempt to explicate and compare the opinions that two ancient philosophical thinkers had regarding laymen: namely the first century C.E. Stoic Epictetus', and the first century B.C.E. Jewish exegete and philosopher Philo of Alexandria's. Indications that Epictetus and Philo of Alexandria believe that there are ways through which people's moral advancement might be gained apart from through formal philosophical pedagogy are explored, in particular this is seen from their perspective on primeval humanity, civic law, civic religion, and exempla. This thesis shows how the records of these two thinkers' thoughts discloses their shared viewpoint about laymen: namely both believe that lay individuals are substantially different in their worldview and moral understanding in comparison to philosophical aware individuals, but both hold that there are ways in which these differences can be attenuated. With regards to Philo this study also reveals how Jews who were heavily influenced by Hellenistic philosophy could positively conceptualise non-Jews who lacked philosophical training.
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