From the book
Marsilio Ficino’s Platonic Theology, Volume II
Marsilio Ficino · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordGenitor is a begetter and genitum what is begotten.
- In the Platonic TheologyBodily self-generation would require the same finite thing to possess the being it imparts and lack the being it receives, and to be prior and posterior to itself.
- In this editionThe restriction secundum finitam naturam belongs to the self-generation argument.
- A place to readGeneration and corruption fail as bodily self-motions for different reasons.
Meaning
Genitor is a begetter and genitum what is begotten. Proles is offspring, used both for generated things and figuratively for a natural impulse. Instinctus and nixus are inward impulse and striving; they are not necessarily conscious deliberation. Non esse is nonbeing, not merely rest or altered location.
Use in the book
Bodily self-generation would require the same finite thing to possess the being it imparts and lack the being it receives, and to be prior and posterior to itself. Ficino therefore denies it. Self-corruption is rejected differently: a thing’s proper natural issue accords with its own nature, and its impulse, an “offspring” of essence and being, cannot as such aim against those sources. The striving to preserve oneself cannot be the same natural principle as a striving toward nonbeing.
These claims concern finite nature and natural tendency, not a modern empirical denial that organisms can contribute causally to their own destruction. They also set limits on the earlier phrase “life generating itself.” The latter concerns soul’s unfolding vital actuality; the former excludes producing one’s own previously absent being as both finite generator and generated. VI.12.20 further qualifies soul’s analogical generation and corruption with quodammodo, ut ita dixerim and quasi. Those restrictions are necessary to prevent a contradiction manufactured by flattening different kinds of motion.
Places to read
- VI.12.14Generation and corruption fail as bodily self-motions for different reasons.
- VI.12.10, VI.12.12Vital self-unfolding and reported self-production must be distinguished from creation of finite being.
- VI.12.19, VI.12.20Psychic generation and corruption are introduced as exemplars and qualified analogies.
Translation in this edition
The restriction secundum finitam naturam belongs to the self-generation argument. The translation’s “offspring” keeps the metaphorical causal connection between essence and instinct; it should not become a claim about literal biological parentage of every desire.
finita natura
finita natura. Printed forms: in natura finita; secundum finitam naturam.
Within finite nature, the explicit restriction on the generation argument. This scope must accompany the denial that one can be one’s own begetter and begotten. References: VI.12.14. See Generation, corruption and self-preservation.
genitor; genitum
genitor; genitum. Printed forms: genito; genitor; genitum; genitus.
Begetter and what is begotten. Finite self-generation would require both possession and reception of the same being and priority/posteriority to oneself. References: VI.12.14. See Generation, corruption and self-preservation.
instinctus; nixus
instinctus; nixus. Printed forms: instinctus; nixus.
Natural impulse and striving. These tend to preservation rather than nonbeing as their own proper end; they need not be conscious choices. References: VI.12.14. See Generation, corruption and self-preservation.
prior; posterior
prior; posterior. Printed forms: posterior; posterius; primo; primum; prior; priorem; prius.
Prior and posterior, first or primary, with causal and temporal senses distinguished locally. The geometric point’s qualified priority, the cause’s prior possession of act and the impossibility of finite self-generation are different uses of priority. References: VI.2.10, VI.2.19, VI.5.3, VI.12.10, VI.12.14, VI.13.9. See Generation, corruption and self-preservation.
proles
proles. Printed forms: prolem; proles quaedam.
Offspring, literal and figurative. A natural impulse is called offspring of essence and being and is therefore supposed to accord with its source. References: VI.12.14. See Generation, corruption and self-preservation.
quodammodo; quasi
quodammodo; quasi. Printed forms: quasi corrumpit; quodammodo; ut ita dixerim.
In a manner, so to speak, as though corrupting. These stacked qualifications constrain the psychic analogues of generation and corruption rather than asserting literal self-creation or destruction. References: VI.12.20. See Generation, corruption and self-preservation.
servare; non esse
servare; non esse. Printed forms: ad non esse; se ipsam servandam.
Servare means to preserve; non esse means not to be or nonbeing. The opposition grounds the argument against bodily self-corruption and should not be mistaken for a medical denial of self-destructive processes. References: VI.12.14. See Generation, corruption and self-preservation.