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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 VII · Chapter 10 · § 1

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English Page · Branch 138 of 191

Book VII · Chapter 10 · § 1

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Latin

p. 270

Decima ratio. Harmonia complexionis nihil agit in corpus.

Neque liceat Aristoxeno aut musicis aliis somniare animam esse harmoniam quandam ex ipsa complexione progenitam. Sic enim anima similiter esset non substantia quaedam, sed accidens. Nonne harmonia totam vim suam trahit a fidibus? Neque quicquam ipsa per se exsistit, neque quicquam valet omnino in chordis efficere. Quippe non movet ipsa chordas, sed iis aliunde motis nascitur harmonia. Anima ergo, si sit harmonia humorum certo modo compositorum, tota pendebit ex illis, neque ipsa illos movebit, sed illis ab alio agitatis anima orietur. Neque illos reget, sed ipsam illi regent et sustinebunt. Non erunt igitur motus in corpore aliqui praeter humorum conditionem, non opera ulla super illorum imperium, sicuti modo sunt, ut in superioribus enarravimus. Non figura artificiosa, non dispositio. Non repugnabit umquam animus affectibus corporalibus, neque se vel in se reflectet vel disiunctum a corporeis incorporeis copulabit, neque per se aliquid operabitur, si nullo modo extiterit per se ipsum. Sed de hoc alias diximus et dicemus.

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

p. 271

Tenth argument. The harmony of a bodily constitution produces no effect upon the body.

Nor should Aristoxenus or any other musicians be allowed to dream that the soul is a kind of harmony generated from the constitution itself. For then the soul likewise would not be a substance but an accident. Does not harmony derive all its power from the strings? It neither exists at all by itself nor has any power whatever to produce an effect upon the strings. Harmony does not itself move the strings; rather, it arises when they are moved from elsewhere. Therefore, if the soul is the harmony of humors composed in a definite manner, it will depend wholly upon them. It will not itself move them, but the soul will arise when they are set in motion by something else. Nor will it rule them; they will rule and sustain it. There will therefore be no motions in the body beyond the condition of the humors, and no activities above their control, although such motions and activities now exist, as we explained above. There will be no artfully fashioned figure, no ordered arrangement. The soul will never resist bodily affections, nor will it either turn back upon itself or, when separated from bodily things, join itself to incorporeal things; nor will it perform anything through itself if it does not in any way exist through itself. But we have spoken of this elsewhere and shall do so again.

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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.