Definition, genus, difference, and mindless parts

Use in the book

A bodily form received in an extended subject would be divisible. Ficino first tests like parts: if each has the full account of the whole, as each drop has the nature of water, one part suffices and the rest add only quantity. Such repetition could not adequately distinguish a structured whole from its parts. Wheat grains and water drops illustrate increase without a new formal account.

Unlike parts are then tested through genus and difference. If animal and rational occupied bodily regions, each region could be divided without limit. A bounded definition would yield infinitely repeated genera and differences or an endless ascent and descent of classification. Yet the argument presupposes upper genera and ultimate differences, including substance and the determinate power of reasoning.

The reported Epicurean model assigns genus to the right of mind and difference to the left. Ficino asks why either region should be privileged if both are equally mind. Separated constituents do not give one mind one knowledge of one thing through one definition at one time. They must be united, and a chance collision is rejected as an account of regular knowledge. If mind itself achieves their union, it is already doing what the bodily model cannot explain.

The polemic against mind composed of mindless parts belongs to this argument. Its target is not every possible account of emergence; its premises concern bodily reception, spatial distribution and the unity required for definition. Ficino also insists that a true mental combination must correspond to a real union in things, rather than being an arbitrary fiction.

Places to read

1. VIII.4.3Similar parts yield redundancy or merely numerical and quantitative increase.
2. VIII.4.4The genus-and-difference hypothesis is driven toward an impossible infinite definition.
3. VIII.4.5Right-and-left localization, chance mixture and mind’s unifying activity are examined.
4. VIII.4.7, VIII.4.8Unspecified parts and numerical models of knowledge are tested after genus and difference.

Translation in this edition

The imperatives Sint hae duae and Sint extensae are hypothetical concessions to an opponent. They do not endorse spatially divided definitions. The corrected scitum/sciti in VIII.4.8 means the object known; confusing it with situm would turn the issue into position.

amens / mens

amens / mens. Printed forms: amentibus; mens.

Mindless and mind, forming a pointed verbal contrast. The prohibition against composing mind from mindless parts belongs to the specific reductio of a spatially divided intellectual form. References: VIII.4.5. See Definition, genus, difference, and mindless parts.

animal / rationale

animal / rationale. Printed forms: Animal; animal; animali; animalibus; rationale; rationali.

Animal and rational, the genus and differentia in the working definition of humanity. The logical combination is not treated as a juxtaposition of two bodily objects inside mind. References: VIII.4.1, VIII.4.4, VIII.4.10. See Definition, genus, difference, and mindless parts.

casus / casu

casus / casu. Printed forms: Casu; casu; casus.

Chance as a proposed explanation for order or mental union. It is rejected both for the regular common nature and for the dependable union of genus and difference in knowledge. References: VIII.1.3, VIII.4.5. See Definition, genus, difference, and mindless parts.

color / figura

color / figura. Printed forms: colore; figura; figuris.

Colour and figure, distinct species of sensible presentation. Figure is not a constituent species contained within colour; this comparison rejects an alternative model of a species' alleged parts. References: VIII.4.7, VIII.4.8. See Definition, genus, difference, and mindless parts.

cumulus / continuum

cumulus / continuum. Printed forms: continuum; cumulus; numerosum.

A heap, a continuous quantity or a numbered aggregate. A species assembled from identical spatial parts would amount to quantitative accumulation, closer to imagination than intellectual definition. References: VIII.4.3. See Definition, genus, difference, and mindless parts.

definitio

definitio. Printed forms: definitio; Definitio; definitione; definitionem; definitiones.

An account identifying what a thing is, especially through genus and difference. One mind knows one thing through one definition; an unbounded partition of its supposed bodily pieces would destroy the bounded account. References: VIII.3.8, VIII.4.1, VIII.4.4, VIII.4.5. See Definition, genus, difference, and mindless parts.

dextra / sinistra

dextra / sinistra. Printed forms: dextera; dextra; dextrae; sinistra; sinistram.

Right and left sides in the opponent's spatial model of intellectual contents. No intrinsic reason places genus on one side and difference on the other; the unified definition cannot be known through isolated regions. References: VIII.4.5, VIII.4.6. See Definition, genus, difference, and mindless parts.

differentia

differentia. Printed forms: differentia; differentiae; differentiam; differentias.

The specifying distinction that marks one species within a genus. Rational differentiates human from nonrational animals, but does not become a bodily left-hand piece of a definition. References: VIII.4.4, VIII.4.5, VIII.4.6, VIII.4.10. See Definition, genus, difference, and mindless parts.

Epicurei

Epicurei. Printed forms: Epicurei; Epicureis; Epicureos; Epicureus.

The opponents to whom Ficino attributes bodily models of soul and cognition. Their positions are presented polemically by Ficino; these entries explain his argument rather than independently establishing every historical Epicurean doctrine. References: VIII.2.3, VIII.4.5, VIII.4.7, VIII.10.2. See Definition, genus, difference, and mindless parts.

genus

genus. Printed forms: genera; genere; generis; genus.

A broader kind or a logical genus predicated of subordinate species. Animal is humanity's genus; its logical contribution cannot occupy the mind's right side as a spatial fragment. References: VIII.4.4, VIII.4.5, VIII.4.6, VIII.10.1. See Definition, genus, difference, and mindless parts.

gutta / triticum / granum

gutta / triticum / granum. Printed forms: granis; guttis; tritici.

Water drops and wheat grains, homogeneous units whose aggregation increases amount. They illustrate why wholly similar hypothetical parts add number or magnitude rather than a distinct intelligible structure. References: VIII.4.3. See Definition, genus, difference, and mindless parts.

inscitia

inscitia. Printed forms: inscitiis.

Ignorance, used in the plural for alleged nonknowing constituents. A proposed composition of knowledge from parts that are not knowledge is compared to producing whiteness from figures. References: VIII.4.8. See Definition, genus, difference, and mindless parts.

mixtio / miscere

mixtio / miscere. Printed forms: misceantur; Misceantur; miscentur; misceri; mixtio; mixtionem; unita.

Mixing or joining, whose cognitive sense must be distinguished from bodily blending. Genus and difference require a real intelligible union; chance mixture and separated spatial placement fail as explanations of knowledge. References: VIII.4.5. See Definition, genus, difference, and mindless parts.

nix / albedo

nix / albedo. Printed forms: albedinem; albedo; nivis.

Snow and whiteness, illustrating a bodily quality divided with its subject. The physical example introduces the claim that a form received in extended matter inherits the receiver's divisibility. References: VIII.4.3, VIII.4.8. See Definition, genus, difference, and mindless parts.

oportere / necesse / debere

oportere / necesse / debere. Printed forms: debent; debet; necesse; Oportet; oportet.

It must be so, it is necessary, or something ought to follow, according to the premise being used. These modal expressions can state a necessary consequence within an opponent's hypothesis. They do not always announce an unconditionally endorsed doctrine. References: VIII.1.2, VIII.1.5, VIII.2.1, VIII.4.1, VIII.4.2, VIII.4.5, VIII.4.8, VIII.4.9, VIII.6.1, VIII.10.1, VIII.16.3, VIII.16.4. See Definition, genus, difference, and mindless parts.

ordo naturae / effectus

ordo naturae / effectus. Printed forms: effectibus; effectu; ordine.

Natural order, and actual realization or effect. Ordo names the ordered constitution of nature; effectus names its actual realization or an effect, as distinguished locally from an invented conceptual multiplication. The genus-and-difference argument rejects actually innumerable natural constituents; elsewhere effects reveal images of causes. Effectu is not always simply an external product. References: VIII.3.7, VIII.4.4, VIII.4.10. See Definition, genus, difference, and mindless parts.

ossa / caro / nervi

ossa / caro / nervi. Printed forms: carnes; nervos; ossa.

Bones, flesh and sinews, examples of unlike bodily constituents. The analogy prompts the alternative that an intellectual form has unlike parts, which Ficino next tests as genus and difference. References: VIII.4.4. See Definition, genus, difference, and mindless parts.

pars / totum (further forms)

pars / totum (further forms). Printed forms: parte; partimur; partis; partium; totam; toti.

Part, a partitioning action and whole, with the grammatical distinctions kept visible. Physical parts, logical constituents and the whole knower play different roles; an intact species in each alleged part defeats the spatial hypothesis. References: VIII.1.3, VIII.2.7, VIII.3.5, VIII.4.2, VIII.4.3, VIII.4.4, VIII.4.5, VIII.4.6, VIII.4.7, VIII.4.8, VIII.4.9, VIII.4.10, VIII.5.1, VIII.6.1. See Definition, genus, difference, and mindless parts.

ponere / concedere / admittere

ponere / concedere / admittere. Printed forms: admittendum; Concedent; conceditur; ponatur; ponere.

Positing, granting and admitting a premise for examination. The point-and-extension and genus-and-difference arguments repeatedly grant an opponent's proposal temporarily to expose its consequences, not to endorse it. References: VIII.3.1, VIII.4.3, VIII.4.5, VIII.6.1. See Definition, genus, difference, and mindless parts.

quaerere / interrogare / percontari

quaerere / interrogare / percontari. Printed forms: interrogabimus; interrogat; percontamur; quaeremus; quaerit; sciscitabimur.

Asking, interrogating and pressing a question through alternatives. The repeated questions organize dialectical tests of a bodily intellect and distinguish successive hypotheses rather than merely adding rhetorical ornament. References: VIII.3.1, VIII.3.8, VIII.4.2, VIII.4.5, VIII.4.7. See Definition, genus, difference, and mindless parts.

refellere / confutare / redarguere

refellere / confutare / redarguere. Printed forms: confutatum; confutatur; confutaverimus; redarguemus; redarguitur; refellimus.

Refuting or exposing an error by its consequences. Each verb appears in renewed attacks on the bodily location, numerical composition or divided knower hypotheses. References: VIII.4.2, VIII.4.8, VIII.4.12, VIII.6.1. See Definition, genus, difference, and mindless parts.

respondere / fateor / negare

respondere / fateor / negare. Printed forms: confiteri; Fateantur; fatebuntur; Negandum; negans; respondeant; respondeatur.

Answering, admitting and denying in the argumentative exchange. The text forces alternatives from opponents and then uses a conceded union or unity to infer a nonbodily mode of mind. References: VIII.4.2, VIII.4.3, VIII.4.5, VIII.4.7, VIII.4.9, VIII.10.2. See Definition, genus, difference, and mindless parts.

similitudo

similitudo. Printed forms: dissimiles; dissimillimas; simile; similes; similis; similitudine; similitudinem; similitudinemque; simillima; simillimas.

Likeness, the resemblance by which an image or effect answers to a source. The bronze figure resembles its model, and the relation to God in V.1023 is expressed through formal likeness. References: V.8.1, V.10.1. See Image, shadow and ranked truth.

Likeness or resemblance, whose role can be representational, causal or comparative. Shared likeness supports comparison, but perfectly similar hypothetical parts create redundancy rather than an articulated account of a whole. References: VIII.1.2, VIII.2.3, VIII.2.5, VIII.4.3, VIII.4.4, VIII.10.1, VIII.10.2, VIII.14.1, VIII.16.4. See Definition, genus, difference, and mindless parts.

vis in si vis

vis in si vis. Printed forms: si vis.

If you wish, the second-person form of willing in a hypothetical invitation. Ficino grants genus and difference as alleged parts for the sake of the argument. This vis is not the noun for power. References: VIII.4.4. See Definition, genus, difference, and mindless parts.