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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 11 · § 1

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Latin Page · Branch 139 of 191

Book VII · Chapter 11 · § 1

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Latin

p. 272

Undecima ratio. In omni corpore composito est harmonia.

In omni corpore ex multis composito est aliqua suarum partium harmonia, per quam conspiratione mutua concinunt. Itaque si harmonia ipsa sit anima, corpora quaelibet composita ea vivent et coalescent. Dices forsitan animam esse quidem harmoniam, id est concinnitatem et consonantiam, sed non quamlibet harmoniam, verum aliquam certo et proprio modo contemperatam. Vides non eandem esse rationem animae atque consonantiae, postquam non ex eo dumtaxat quod res aliqua consonantia est, est etiam anima, sed ex eo quod certo modo disposita. Certum huiusmodi dispositionis modum concinnitas ipsa non ex sui natura haurit, quia esset in qualibet concinnitate. Igitur aliunde ab extrinsecone principio? Immo vero. Ceterum extrinsecum istud non sufficit. Non enim movet et temperat assidue et naturaliter harmoniam quod extra ipsam est. Latet igitur in humorum consonantia vis quaedam praestantior corporalis consonantiae temperatrix, quae in viventium corporibus suo modo humores contemperans, ipsorum concinnitatem reddit certam et ab aliis corporibus differentem; quae propria consonantia vitalis harmonia est, a vivifico spiritu interius latente progenita.

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

p. 273

Eleventh argument. There is harmony in every composite body.

In every body composed of many parts there is some harmony of those parts, through which they accord in mutual agreement. Therefore, if harmony itself is the soul, every composite body will live and cohere through it. You may perhaps say that the soul is indeed a harmony—that is, a fitting arrangement and concord—but not just any harmony; rather, one tempered in a definite and proper manner. You see that the defining account of soul is not the same as that of concord, since a thing is not a soul merely because it is a concord, but because it is disposed in a definite manner. A fitting arrangement does not draw this definite manner of disposition from its own nature, for then it would be present in every fitting arrangement. Does it draw it, then, from elsewhere—from an external principle? Indeed it does. Yet that external principle is not sufficient, for what lies outside the harmony does not continually and naturally move and temper it. Hidden within the concord of the humors, therefore, is some power more excellent than bodily concord, which tempers that concord. By tempering the humors in its own manner within living bodies, this power renders their fitting arrangement definite and different from that of other bodies. This proper concord is vital harmony, generated by a life-giving spirit hidden within.

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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.