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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 14 · § 9

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English Page · Branch 54 of 191

Book V · Chapter 14 · § 9

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Latin

p. 102

Deus verum bonum est. Angelus imago quidem est bonitatis, sed intellectus est verus. Rationalis anima imago intellectus, anima vera. Irrationalis anima imago animae, natura vera. Qualitas quae dividitur in materia naturae imago est, verum naturalium agentium instrumentum. Sed meminisse oportet eos qui animas nostras inferiores esse sempiternas existimant, etiam plantarum animas, secutos esse Aegyptios Pythagoreosque, existimantes animas humanas esse mentes delapsas in rationem atque sensum, animas vero brutorum esse nostras in sensum generationemque omnino prolapsas, plantarum denique animas esse easdem lapsas omnino in generandi potentiam, posseque omnes iterum ad superiora converti. Quod quidem Empedocles, Timaeus Locrus, Origenes, Plotinus significasse videntur. Sed haec ipsi viderint; nos autem propositum prosequamur.

102

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

p. 103

God is the true good. An angel is an image of goodness, yet is true intellect. The rational soul is an image of intellect, yet true soul. The irrational soul is an image of soul, yet true nature. A quality divided through matter is an image of nature, yet a true instrument of natural agents. We must remember, however, that those who hold our lower souls—even the souls of plants—to be everlasting followed the Egyptians and Pythagoreans. They supposed that human souls are minds fallen into reason and sense; that the souls of beasts are our own souls fallen altogether into sensation and generation; and finally that the souls of plants are those same souls fallen wholly into the power of generation. All, they thought, can turn again toward higher things. Empedocles, Timaeus of Locri, Origen, and Plotinus appear to have intimated this. Let them answer for these views; we shall pursue our proposed course.

103

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.