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 VI · Chapter 6 · §§ 4–5

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English Page · Branch 93 of 191

Book VI · Chapter 6 · §§ 4–5

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Latin

p. 180

Afferuntur hic a nonnullis breves quaedam persuasiones huiusmodi. Si anima dicatur esse divisibilis, quaeritur numquid partes eius vivant ut totum, necne. Si vivunt, tota anima in singulis est suis particulis. Quo fit ut non egeat quantitate, quandoquidem per divisionem non diminuitur. Si non vivunt, ex non viventibus vita consistet, quod est impossibile. Rursus omne corpus alicui quinque sensuum innotescere potest, anima nulli. Omne corpus figura aliqua vel termino circumscribitur, anima minime. Omne corpus operationem suam necessario peragit temporis intervallo. Cum enim divisibile sit in essentia, multo magis in actione. Anima saepe momento temporis operatur. Corpus per quantitatem potius quam per essentiam est in loco, quia propter quantitatem implet locum. Anima per essentiam adest corpori. Ut enim adest illi, dat illi esse. Esse per essentiam datur, sicut per sapientiam sapere. Adest igitur per essentiam. Corpus ita in alio est, ut contineatur ab eo in quo ponitur, atque excedatur. Anima in corpore est non comprehensa, sed comprehendens. Ipsa enim corpus perficit, continet atque ducit. Anima denique quolibet corpore et toto corpore praestantior est. Quare lineis punctisque quae in corporibus sunt ut in subiecto est praestantior.

Indivisibile divisibili excellentius est. Animus igitur magis indivisibilis est quam aut linea aut punctum.

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

p. 181

Some offer here several short arguments of the following kind. If soul is said to be divisible, we ask whether its parts live as the whole does or not. If they live, the whole soul is in each of its particles. Thus it does not need quantity, since division does not diminish it. If they do not live, life will consist of things that do not live, which is impossible. Again, every body can become known to one of the five senses; soul to none. Every body is bounded by some figure or limit; soul is not. Every body necessarily carries out its operation over an interval of time—for since it is divisible in essence, it is much more divisible in action. The soul often operates in an instant. Body is in place through quantity rather than through essence, because it fills place on account of quantity. Soul is present to body through essence. For in being present to body, it gives body being. Being is given through essence, just as being wise is given through wisdom. Thus soul is present through essence. A body is in another thing in such a way that it is contained and surpassed by that in which it is placed. Soul is in body not as something comprehended but as that which comprehends. For it perfects, contains, and guides the body. Finally, soul is more excellent than any body and than body as a whole. It is therefore more excellent than lines and points, which exist in bodies as in a subject.

The indivisible is more excellent than the divisible. The soul, therefore, is more indivisible than either a line or a point.

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.