Marsilio Ficino’s Platonic Theology, Volume II

Name: Marsilio Ficino’s Platonic Theology, Volume II
Author: Marsilio Ficino

Books V–VIII · Latin with an independent English translation

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Marsilio Ficino’s Platonic Theology, Volume IIBook V · Chapter 5 · §§ 7–9

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Facing Pages · Branch 18 of 191

Book V · Chapter 5 · §§ 7–9

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Latin

p. 30

Secunda est quia, si haec essentia esset immersa materiae, numquam emergeret in divina, quae sunt a materia remotissima; atque ita non esset competens mundi nodus, quia non connecteret infima cum supremis.

Tertia est quia, cum moveatur primo, necessario movetur per se, libere, in circuitum. Si per se movetur, per se utique operatur. Si hoc est, etiam per seipsam, nullis addicta corporibus. Si movetur libere, non est alligata materiae. Si volvitur in circuitum, in seipsam se recipit, relicta materia.

Quarta est quia, si materiae dominatur movendo illam primum atque formando, materiae non miscetur. Per haec apparet essentiam illam, quae est animae sedes, quam etiam animarum pateram Plato nominat in Timaeo, nullam habere originem a corporibus, atque etiam neque ex partibus quantitatis constitui. Partes siquidem huiusmodi solis corporibus et qualitatibus insunt, non autem formis a corpore separatis. Non igitur ob id anima dissipabitur quod in partes aliquas dissolvatur. Sane nullam habet distantiam partium, quoniam in corpore non dividitur; neque ex eo deficiet umquam quod a suo aliquo sustentaculo deseratur. Nullo quippe eget corporis fundamento essentia illa quae per naturam suam est domina corporum. Neque etiam per hoc interibit quod contrariae atque inter se pugnantes elementorum vires aliquando eam turbent; hae siquidem in materia pugnant. Anima vero est a Deo super materiam, ut eam non attingat elementorum procella et iniquitas certantium qualitatum. Numquam rursus ex eo inquinabitur quod alienam aliquam et naturae suae adversam quandoque suscipiat qualitatem, quae noxiam ipsi inferat passionem. Primum namque subiectum passioni expositum materia est, per quam et quantitas ipsi immersa et qualitas quantitati cohaerens exponitur passioni. Quocirca essentia illa quae est a materia separata, id est potentia separabilis, nullam habet in seipsa potentiam per quam alienum quicquam et hostile suscipiat, unde passioni subiiciatur.

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

p. 31

The second is that, if this essence were immersed in matter, it would never rise to divine things, which are farthest removed from matter. It would thus not be a fitting bond of the world, for it would not connect the lowest things with the highest.

The third is that because its motion is primary, it necessarily moves of itself, freely, and in a circle. If it moves of itself, it certainly acts of itself. If so, it acts also through itself, bound to no bodies. If it moves freely, it is not fettered to matter. If it revolves in a circle, it returns into itself, leaving matter behind.

The fourth is that, if it rules matter by first moving and forming it, it is not mingled with matter. From these arguments it is evident that the essence which is the soul's seat—and which Plato in the Timaeus also calls the mixing-bowl of souls—has no origin from bodies and moreover is not constituted from parts of quantity. Parts of this kind belong only to bodies and qualities, not to forms separated from body. The soul therefore will not be scattered through dissolution into parts. Indeed, it contains no spatial separation of parts, since it is not divided within the body; nor will it ever fail because some support of its own deserts it. For the essence that by its nature is mistress of bodies requires no bodily foundation. Nor will it perish because the contrary and mutually warring powers of the elements at some time disturb it, since these powers do battle in matter. The soul, however, is from God and stands above matter, so that the storm of the elements and the discord of contending qualities cannot reach it. Nor again will it ever be defiled by receiving some alien quality opposed to its nature, which might inflict a harmful passion upon it. Matter is the first subject exposed to passion; through matter, quantity immersed in it and quality inhering in quantity are likewise exposed to passion. Therefore that essence which is separated from matter—that is, separable in potency—has within itself no potency through which it might receive anything alien and hostile and thereby become subject to passion.

48.Mundi nodus retains Ficino's binding image as ‘bond of the world’; the singular non connecteret agrees with haec essentia and governs infima cum supremis.

49.Primo continues Book V's established hierarchy of ‘primary motion’; it is not reduced to a merely temporal ‘first.’

50.The repeated per se, the freedom from bodily bonds, and the circular return into the self are all retained in their original sequence.

51.Pateram preserves Plato's image as the ‘mixing-bowl of souls’; the reference is Ficino's own and no modern source note has been imported.

52.Potentia separabilis is read adverbially as ‘separable in potency,’ distinguishing the essence's capacity for separation from the later potentiam by which something alien might be received.

53.Passio remains the technical ‘passion’ throughout: matter is its primary subject, and quantity and quality are exposed to it through matter. The elemental storm and the discord of contending qualities preserve Ficino's rhetoric.

54.The unit ends immediately before the displayed heading of V.6 on both M1482 c.143 and G1559 p.215.

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.