From the book
Stobaeus, Volume I
John Stobaeus · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Concord
συμφωνία
sumphōniaSymphōnia is a sounding together, hence concord or agreement.
Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordSymphōnia is a sounding together, hence concord or agreement.
- In StobaeusThe inquiry into soul considers whether multiple souls might agree like a chorus, alongside alternatives involving parts or powers of one soul.
- In this edition“Concord” preserves the musical analogy; “agreement” fits a nonmusical application.
- A place to beginChoral concord illustrates one possibility in an inquiry into psychic unity.
- English renderings
- concord; agreement; consonance
Meaning
Symphōnia is a sounding together, hence concord or agreement. A musical image can express coordination without deciding whether the coordinated things form one substance.
Use in the book
The inquiry into soul considers whether multiple souls might agree like a chorus, alongside alternatives involving parts or powers of one soul. Concord appears as a possible relation between several things. The analogy must not be turned into the author’s settled assertion that every person contains several independent souls.
Places to read
- I.49.25a.6Choral concord illustrates one possibility in an inquiry into psychic unity.
Translation in this edition
“Concord” preserves the musical analogy; “agreement” fits a nonmusical application.
Source note
Wachsmuth, volume I, printed pp. 351–352. The passage explores alternatives. Its interrogative and conditional structure matters for the status of the choral model.
From the book
Marsilio Ficino’s Platonic Theology, Volume I
Marsilio Ficino · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Concord and convergence
conveniant; congruerent; consentire; dissentire; conspirant; conciliantur; communione; concurrunt; conspirationem
Convenire and congruere mean agreeing, matching, or belonging suitably; consentire and dissentire mark agreement and disagreement.
Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordConvenire and congruere mean agreeing, matching, or belonging suitably; consentire and dissentire mark agreement and disagreement.
- In the Platonic TheologyFicino moves from the hypothetical agreement of two gods to the actual mutual order he sees among diverse cosmic parts.
- In this editionEnglish “conspire” retains the Latin image of concerted action; it does not imply a secret plot.
- A place to readAgreement of natures and mutual cosmic coordination
Meaning
Convenire and congruere mean agreeing, matching, or belonging suitably; consentire and dissentire mark agreement and disagreement. Conspirare describes coordinated tendency, while concurrere means coming or working together toward an outcome. These need not denote conscious agreement.
Use in the book
Ficino moves from the hypothetical agreement of two gods to the actual mutual order he sees among diverse cosmic parts. An army’s coordinated arrangement illustrates how relations between parts can depend on their common relation to a commander. Mere differences among the parts do not, on his argument, suffice to produce their concord. The world’s recurrent order rules out chance as its explanation in his account.
In II.7234567891011121314151617181920212223242526272829303132 the language becomes causal. Parts must be reconciled for a compound to exist; agents converge on being as a common effect. Their unity is not identity of individual nature: they remain diverse agents whose work depends upon one first agent and one end. In the two-god dilemma, however, willing and refusing the same result are genuinely opposed acts. The reader should distinguish coordination among natural agents from agreement between hypothetical wills.
Places to read
Translation in this edition
English “conspire” retains the Latin image of concerted action; it does not imply a secret plot. “Belongs to” elsewhere can translate convenit, so that word should not everywhere be indexed only as agreement.
communio
communio. Printed forms: communio; communione.
Communion or shared relation binding distinct things. The mutual relation of parts and their common end require a source of unity beyond sheer difference. References: II.1.3, II.2.8, II.2.12. See Concord and convergence.
conciliare
conciliare. Printed forms: conciliantur; conciliavisset; conciliavit.
To reconcile or unite diverse components. A whole’s unity demands a source of concord beyond the parts considered simply as different. References: II.2.3, II.2.9, II.7.9. See Concord and convergence.
consentire / dissentire
consentire / dissentire. Printed forms: consentiant; consentire; dissentiant; dissentire.
To agree or disagree, with conscious wills in the latter case. Alternately prevailing opposed wills would make each alleged god mutable. References: II.2.2, II.2.14. See Concord and convergence.
conspirare / concurrere
conspirare / concurrere. Printed forms: concurrunt; conspirant.
To act or tend together toward a common order or effect. Natural agents converge upon being without requiring conscious conspiracy or identical individual natures. References: II.2.8, II.2.12, II.7.27. See Concord and convergence.
mutuus / invicem
mutuus / invicem. Printed forms: invicem; mutua; mutuo; mutuoque; mutuus.
Mutual or reciprocal relation. Cosmic parts coordinate with one another; spirits are said to be in one another without confusion in the attributed theory. References: II.2.8, II.2.9, II.6.14. See Concord and convergence.