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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 VIII · Chapter 16 · § 2

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Facing Pages · Branch 189 of 191

Book VIII · Chapter 16 · § 2

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Latin

p. 372

Quamquam non minus in rerum natura esse videntur quae mens per se pingit in se ipsa quam per linguam in aere vel per manum pingit in pariete. Novas quoque semper rerum facies vi propria et quodam ordine fabricat, et rursus innovat alias. Nonne etiam, postquam gradatim per mundi sphaeras ascendit, gradatim quoque angelos ita considerat, ut alium videat semper alio altiorem, neque tam sublimem reperit umquam quin possit alium uno saltem gradu et alium rursus alio gradu invenire maiorem? Atque id tamdiu facit quamdiu finitum esse angelum quemque pronuntiat. Ex quo, quolibet finito spiritu, invenit alium altiorem. Atque ita sine termino progrederetur, nisi ipsamet sibi modum imponeret concluderetque esse spiritum aliquem infinitum, qui omnem angelum, et qui est et qui cogitari potest, innumeris gradibus superet. Quis infinite progreditur? Quis infinitum progressum quodammodo terminat? Quis terminum illum progrediendi infinitum assequitur? Mens certe haec facit. Mentis igitur quodammodo infinita virtus est. Quae in eo quoque apparet, quod non modo reperit infinitum actum, qui deus est, verum etiam potentiam infinitam, quae est materia subdita deo atque ad innumerabiles formas inde capiendas idonea. Hinc etiam infinitam invenimus generationis vicissitudinem, quae potest per infinitum tempus ab actu infinito fundi in potentiam infinitam. Apparet rursus ex eo quod universales rerum rationes capit. Sub quolibet autem universali, seu specie sive genere, innumerabilia continentur. Innumerabiles sub humana specie homines successione perpetua, itemque sub aliis infinita individua colligit in unam speciem, species multas in genus unum, multa genera in unam essentiam, essentiam unam in divinam unitatem, veritatem et bonitatem. Vicissim ab hac una gradatim descendit in multitudinem infinitam. Mira profecto virtus, quae infinita reddit unum, unum reddit infinita.

372

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

p. 373

And yet the things the mind paints within itself by its own power seem to exist in the nature of things no less than those it paints in the air through speech or on a wall through the hand. By its own power and in a certain order it continually fashions new appearances of things and then fashions others anew. Moreover, once it has ascended step by step through the spheres of the world, does it not consider the angels also by degrees, so that it always sees one higher than another? It never finds one so sublime that it cannot discover another at least one degree higher, and then another higher by yet another degree. It does this so long as it pronounces every angel finite: beyond any finite spirit it discovers another still higher. It would thus advance without limit unless it imposed a measure upon itself and concluded that there is an infinite spirit surpassing by countless degrees every angel both actual and conceivable. Who advances infinitely? Who in some manner brings an infinite advance to its term? Who attains that infinite terminus of advance? The mind assuredly does these things. The mind therefore possesses a power that is in some manner infinite. This power also appears in the fact that mind discovers not only infinite act, which is God, but also infinite potency: matter subject to God and fitted to receive from him innumerable forms. Hence we also discover an infinite succession of generation, which can for infinite time flow from infinite act into infinite potency. The same power appears again because mind receives the universal principles of things. Under each universal—whether species or genus—innumerable things are contained. It gathers innumerable human beings in perpetual succession under the human species, and likewise infinite individuals under other species; it gathers them into one species, many species into one genus, many genera into one essence, and the one essence into divine unity, truth, and goodness. In turn, it descends step by step from this one into infinite multitude. Wondrous indeed is the power that makes the infinite many one and the one an infinite many.

373

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.