Intention · Lexicon

From the book

Marsilio Ficino’s Platonic Theology, Volume I

Marsilio Ficino · Diotimos Editions · 2026

Orientation

At a Glance

The wordIntentio can be an orientation of purpose, but secunda quadam intentione locally means a secondary degree or remove.
In the Platonic TheologyIntention does not have one fixed sense in these passages.
In this editionThe translation gives “in intention” at II.13.8 but “at a certain second remove” at IV.2.7.
A place to readThe end precedes movements directed toward it in intention

Meaning

Intentio can be an orientation of purpose, but secunda quadam intentione locally means a secondary degree or remove. Its force is determined by the construction: the noun does not invariably signify a person’s deliberate choice or an additional act of will.

Use in the book

Intention does not have one fixed sense in these passages. In II.13.8 an end must precede, in intention, the movements directed toward it: the goal belongs to the explanatory ordering before its execution. In IV.2.7, however, soul's dependence on the One secunda quadam intentione is rendered at a certain second remove. The latter concerns a secondary degree of dependence, not a second conscious decision. Both uses require the local construction rather than automatic translation as personal purpose.

Further passage references. II.13.8; IV.2.7; apparatus

Places to read

II.13.8The end precedes movements directed toward it in intention
IV.2.7Soul’s second remove from unity explains its stable essence and temporal variation

Translation in this edition

The translation gives “in intention” at II.13.8 but “at a certain second remove” at IV.2.7. The difference is explanatory, not inconsistency: one concerns the priority of an end, the other soul’s mediated dependence on the One.

consilium / statuo

consilium / statuo. Printed forms: consilium; statuissem.

A design or purpose; to resolve or establish. Ficino states a compositional plan to contemplate the Creator through the created mind; “design” here is authorial intent rather than a divine idea. References: Proem.7. See Intention.

propositum

propositum. Printed forms: proposito; propositum; proposuimus.

Design or purpose; also an announced topic or proposition. Divine design orders the world; Ficino’s own proposed discussion supplies a distinct discursive sense of the same family. References: II.11.17, II.11.18, II.11.21, II.11.24. See Intention.

secunda intentio

secunda intentio. Printed forms: secunda quadam intentione.

At a second directed remove in the order. Soul retains essential and spatial unity but loses the mode of unity that excludes successive moments. References: IV.2.7. See Intention.