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Marsilio Ficino

Marsilio Ficino’s Platonic Theology, Volume II

Books V–VIII · Latin with an independent English translation

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Marsilio Ficino’s Platonic Theology, Volume IIBook V · Chapter 2 · § 1

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English Page · Branch 9 of 191

Book V · Chapter 2 · § 1

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Latin

p. 12

Secunda ratio: quia stat per substantiam.

Atque ita immortalem esse animam per motum eius ratio superior demonstravit. Idem quoque per statum animae demonstratur. Quando animam nominamus, rationalium animarum genus intelligi volumus. Nam irrationales vitas non animas proprie appellamus, sed idola et simulacra animarum. Si essentia illa tertia, de qua tam multa diximus, licet per operationem moveatur, manet nihilominus per substantiam, sequitur ut anima, quae eadem est quod essentia illa, per substantiam non mutetur. Quod autem tale est, esse desinit numquam.

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Marsilio Ficino’s Platonic Theology, Volume II: Book V

p. 13

Second argument: because it stands firm in its substance.

The preceding argument showed from the soul's motion that it is immortal. The same conclusion is also shown by the soul's stability. Whenever we speak of soul, we mean the class of rational souls; for we do not properly call irrational lives souls, but images and likenesses of souls. If that third essence, of which we have said so much, remains nevertheless stable in substance although it is moved in operation, it follows that the soul, which is the same thing as that essence, does not change in substance. And what is of this kind never ceases to be.

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About This Reading Edition

Volume II continues Ficino’s inquiry into the immortality of the soul through Books V–VIII. Its arguments consider the rational soul’s self-motion, its relation to the body, sensation, and the powers of the mind. The Latin and independent English translation follow the supplied edition’s facing pages and matching comparison units.

Historical Text and Translation

The Latin reading text is independently established from the Florence 1482 editio princeps (M1482), collated against the Paris 1559 printing (G1559), with the Paris 1641 Opera used only as a late control. Abbreviations are expanded, spelling and punctuation are conservatively normalized, and consequential readings are recorded in the apparatus.

About Diotimos Editions

Diotimos Editions prepared this independent English translation in the voice established in Volume I, preserving Ficino’s argumentative sequence, metaphors, technical distinctions, repetitions, conditions, purposes, and qualifications. Editorial notes and witness variants accompany their passages as numbered notes. The edition and source statement, contents, and reading guidance are also retained. The source locator register remains available in the downloadable edition.

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.