Diotimos Library · Renaissance Collection · Bilingual Edition
Marsilio Ficino’s Platonic Theology, Volume I
Proem and Books I–IV · Latin with an independent English translation
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English Page · Branch 59 of 174
Book II · Chapter 3 · §§ 9–10
Latin
p. 120Denique superior quilibet gradus in inferiorem aliquid operatur et a superiore accipit aliquid. Si nullus sit gradus in rebus primus, nullusque sit ultimus, quilibet gradus medius a gradibus infinitis superioribus dependebit ac rursus gradus infinitos producet inferiores. Quapropter accipiet a superioribus perfectiones innumeras, cum accipiat a qualibet sui causa boni nonnihil, et infinita munera inferioribus exhibebit; cuique enim aliquid largietur. Quapropter erit immensae virtutis et perfectionum plenus infinitarum. Sic res omnes aeque erunt infinitae. Non erit res alia praestantior alia, non erit causa suo opere melior. Vel forte res quaelibet innumere finita erit, quia innumere ab antecedentibus excedetur. Rursus erit quaelibet infinita, quia sequentia innumerabilia superabit. Nec erit usquam ulla vera scientia, cum nequeant infinitae rerum causae comprehendi. Neque erit in universo quod appetitum moveat aut sistat, si non sit principium primum ultimusque finis. Huius enim virtute movetur appetitus omnis atque firmatur.
Unum igitur omnino sit rerum principium. Vocetur unitas, quia per excellentissimam simplicitatem supereminet omnia; veritas, quia producendo esse dat omnibus; bonitas, quia producta ad se revocando praestat et bene esse. Atque, ut tradit Ioannis apostoli theologia, theologorum omnium divinissimi, quem Platonicus Amelius libenter amplectitur, unitatem vocat principium, veritatem principii rationem, bonitatem denique principii rationalis amorem. Atque haec ipsa substantia, scilicet unitas vera bona, seu veritas una bona, sive bonitas una vera, sit unus bonus verusque Deus. Sed quia unitas est, ideo fit veritas; quia unitas vera, ideo bonitas. In unitate implicat cuncta, explicat in veritate, effundit per bonitatem. Cuncta vero postquam inde fluxerunt, refluunt per bonitatem, reformantur per veritatem, restituuntur in unum per unitatem.
Marsilio Ficino’s Platonic Theology, Volume I: Book II
p. 121Finally, every higher degree acts upon a lower one and receives something from one above it. If there is no first degree among things and no last, every intermediate degree will depend upon infinite higher degrees and in turn produce infinite lower ones. It will therefore receive innumerable perfections from those above, since it receives some good from each of its causes, and will bestow infinite gifts upon those below, for it will give something to each. It will consequently possess immeasurable power and be filled with infinite perfections. Thus all things will be equally infinite. No one thing will be more excellent than another, nor will a cause be better than its own work. Or perhaps each thing will be bounded in numberless ways, because it will be surpassed without number by its antecedents; yet each will in turn be infinite, because it will surpass innumerable things that follow. Nor will there be any true knowledge anywhere, since the infinite causes of things cannot be comprehended. And there will be nothing in the universe to move or still desire if there is no first principle and final end; for by the power of this every desire is moved and made firm.
Let there therefore be one principle of things altogether. Let it be called unity, because through its most excellent simplicity it rises above all things; truth, because by producing it gives being to all; goodness, because by recalling what it has produced to itself, it bestows well-being too. And according to the theology of the apostle John—the most divine of all theologians, whom the Platonist Amelius gladly embraces—unity is called the principle, truth the reason of the principle, and goodness the love of the rational principle. Let this very substance, namely true and good unity, or one and good truth, or one and true goodness, be the one good and true God. But because it is unity, it therefore becomes truth; because it is true unity, it therefore becomes goodness. In unity it enfolds all things; in truth it unfolds them; through goodness it pours them forth. And after all things have flowed from it, they flow back through goodness, are re-formed through truth, and are restored into one through unity.
Socrates
Reading Marsilio Ficino’s Platonic Theology, Volume I · Book II · II.3.9–II.3.10
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Socrates will begin with this book and its sources.About This Reading Edition
Marsilio Ficino’s Platonic Theology places the immortality of the soul at the center of an extended philosophical ascent through body, soul, angel, and God. This exact page-aligned Renaissance edition presents the authorial Proem and Books I–IV in a newly established Latin reading text with an independent English translation prepared by Diotimos Editions.
Historical Text and Translation
The Latin reading text is based on the Florence editio princeps printed by Antonio Miscomini on 7 November 1482 and principally collated against the Paris 1559 printing, with a 1641 Opera printing used only as a late control and OCR aid. Abbreviations are expanded, spelling and punctuation are conservatively normalized, and substantive departures among the witnesses are documented in the edition’s apparatus.
About Diotimos Editions
Diotimos Editions prepared this independently worded English translation in house. It aims for a dignified but readable modern register while preserving Ficino’s argumentative sequence, metaphors, technical distinctions, repetitions, conditions, purpose clauses, and direct appeals; long periods are divided only where clarity requires it.
Rights
Ficino’s Latin source work is in the public domain. The 2026 English translation and Diotimos editorial matter are original to this edition and remain © 2026 Diotimos.