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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 V · Chapter 13 · § 17

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Latin Page · Branch 48 of 191

Book V · Chapter 13 · § 17

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Latin

p. 90

Sed finem iam sic rationi huic imponamus. Si animae essentia proxime a Deo fit, nihil inter eam et Deum ipsius conservatorem intercidit medium quod ipsam a conservante disiungat. Ac si solo Deo eget ut fiat, solo etiam eget ut maneat. Et quia Deus per eandem vim servat creata per quam creavit, ideo sicut ex infinita Dei bonitate anima ex nihilo ad esse processit, ita per eandem in esse permanet procul a nihilo, ut vita Deo proxima divinae vitae simillima sit. Quod ita demum erit, si anima aut principio et fine caruerit sicut Deus, aut, si habuerit principium, finem saltem nullum sit habitura.

90

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

p. 91

Let us now bring this argument to its close. If the soul’s essence comes immediately from God, no intermediary falls between it and God its preserver to separate it from the one who preserves it. And if it needs God alone in order to come to be, it also needs God alone in order to remain. God preserves created things through the same power by which he created them. Therefore, just as the soul came forth from nothing into being through God’s infinite goodness, through that same goodness it remains in being, far from nothing, so that a life nearest to God may be most like the divine life. This can be so only if the soul either lacks both beginning and end, as God does, or, having had a beginning, will at least have no end.

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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.