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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 15 · § 1

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English Page · Branch 143 of 191

Book VII · Chapter 15 · § 1

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Latin

p. 280

Decimaquinta ratio. Harmonia nihil admittit dissonum.

Harmonia vera, ut rectius procedamus, nihil admittit dissonum, dum permanet harmonia. Si harmonia est, consonat; sin dissonat, non est harmonia. Animam vero nostram nonne videmus assidue dissonantibus opinionibus et affectibus distrahi, et nihilominus veram animam permanere, atque aeque vitalem? Neque obiicias quod affectuum discordia licet non perimat animam, discordia tamen elementorum humorumque perimit. Porro si non potest animus propria intimaque dissonantia perire, alia nulla potest. Propria animi humani et intima dissonantia illa est, quae soli et omni animo convenit, id est opinionum affectuumque dissensio, quae corpora vita carentia non attingit, et omnes mortalium pulsat animos. Dissensio talis eos e vitae sensusque statu non deicit. Multo igitur minus humorum discordia, quae ab animo alienior est, animi ipsius naturalem habitum dissipabit, qui certe humoribus vel paulum dissonantibus dissiparetur, si in eorum concentu consisteret. Quamobrem nihil obstat quin partes animi corporisque longe dissonent et anima nihilominus vera vitalisque anima perseveret. Id harmonia non patitur. Igitur errabit qui dixerit animam harmoniam.

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

p. 281

Fifteenth argument. Harmony admits nothing discordant.

True harmony, to proceed more correctly, admits nothing discordant so long as it remains harmony. If it is harmony, it is consonant; if it is dissonant, it is not harmony. Yet do we not see our soul continually torn by discordant opinions and affections, while nevertheless remaining a true soul and no less vital? Do not object that, although discord among the affections does not destroy the soul, discord among the elements and humors does destroy it. For if the soul cannot perish through its own inward dissonance, no other dissonance can destroy it. The proper and inward dissonance of the human soul is that which belongs to the soul alone and to every soul—that is, the disagreement of opinions and affections, which does not touch bodies devoid of life and assails every mortal soul. Such disagreement does not cast these souls down from the state of life and sensation. Still less, therefore, will discord among the humors, which is more foreign to the soul, destroy the soul's own natural state. Yet that state would certainly be destroyed when the humors were even slightly out of harmony if it consisted in their concord. Nothing, then, prevents the parts of soul and body from being widely discordant while the soul nevertheless persists as a true and vital soul. Harmony does not allow this. Whoever says that the soul is harmony will therefore be mistaken.

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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.