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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 VI · Chapter 9 · § 3

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English Page · Branch 99 of 191

Book VI · Chapter 9 · § 3

Latin

p. 192

Nonne si corpus quodlibet naturale carens anima unum quiddam est per formam unam in toto et partibus existentem, multo magis animatum corpus unum erit per animam toti partibusque praesentem? Quod si anima in uno solum membro sit, illius solius erit forma. Reliquorum aliae erunt formae, unde non conficietur ex membris omnibus naturale corpus revera unum, sed congregatum quiddam tamquam domus ex parietibus. Neque erit in qualibet animalis parte consensio et concordia ad quamlibet, qualis modo est, nisi per unam animam varia membra conglutinentur, sicut neque ad tractum nervi omnes articuli contrahuntur nisi idem sit nervus in omnibus. Adde quod in quavis quantumcumque minima corporis portiuncula inest vita, et in plurimis motus et sensus. Hae animae vires operationesque intimae sunt. Vis actioque agenti alicui intima sine agentis substantia non existit. In illis ergo est anima, si in illis viget et agit.

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

p. 193

If every natural body devoid of soul is one thing through one form present in its whole and its parts, will not an animate body be one all the more through a soul present to the whole and to the parts? For if the soul were in only one member, it would be the form of that member alone. The other members would have other forms, and so all the members together would make, not one natural body in truth, but an aggregate like a house made of walls. Nor would each part of the animal possess the harmony and concord with every other part that it now possesses unless one soul bound the various members together—just as all the joints are not drawn together by the pull of a sinew unless the same sinew is present in them all. Add that life is present in every portion of the body, however small, and motion and sensation in most of them. These powers and operations of the soul are inward to those parts. A power and action inward to any agent cannot exist without the agent's substance. The soul is therefore in those parts, if it flourishes and acts in them.

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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.