DiotimosReading Desk

Argument language and qualification

Naming and defining

appellamus; vocatur; nuncuparetur; nominatur; definitionem; haud propria omnino ratione.

Appellare, vocare, nominare and nuncupare name or call something; they do not invariably announce a strict definition.

From the book

Marsilio Ficino’s Platonic Theology, Volume I

Marsilio Ficino · Diotimos Editions · 2026

Browse this book’s lexicon →

Orientation

At a Glance

  • The wordAppellare, vocare, nominare and nuncupare name or call something; they do not invariably announce a strict definition.
  • In the Platonic TheologyFicino marks a convention when he says that “in Platonic usage” every form divided in body is called quality.
  • In this editionEnglish “call” can hide different speech acts.
  • A place to readFicino explains why Plato was called divine and his teaching theology

Meaning

Appellare, vocare, nominare and nuncupare name or call something; they do not invariably announce a strict definition. Definitio explicitly introduces a definition. Propria ratione concerns whether a name applies in its proper sense.

Use in the book

Ficino marks a convention when he says that “in Platonic usage” every form divided in body is called quality. He separately reports that natural philosophers often call form act. Later the form attributed to Proclus is explicitly defined as that by which something exists and acts distinctly and actually; the argument examines what is and is not included in that wording. The naming of rational soul is prospective: the third essence “we shall call” rational soul receives fuller treatment later. At the top of the ascent, naming becomes qualified. Some prefer “intelligible” or “intellection” to “intellect” for God, but Ficino adds that even these do not apply altogether properly. A useful lexicon must therefore retain the difference between a local convention, an attributed definition, a promised identification and a deliberately imperfect divine name.

Places to read

  1. Proem.3Ficino explains why Plato was called divine and his teaching theology
  2. I.3.1Platonic “quality” and the natural philosophers’ “act” are marked usages
  3. I.3.28Proclus’s definition of form is tested for its implications
  4. I.3.33The third essence is named before the promised fuller account
  5. I.6.13The names applied to God receive an explicit propriety qualification

Translation in this edition

English “call” can hide different speech acts. Haud propria omnino ratione must not disappear when the divine names are indexed, and “as I might put it” in I.3.4 similarly signals a qualified description rather than an unconditional new definition.

definitio

definitio. Printed forms: definitio; definitione; definitionem.

A definition or delimiting account. The reported definition of form as that by which something actually exists and acts is examined for whether it includes dimension or a subject. References: I.3.28. See Naming and defining.

Definition or account of what something is. The definition of rational soul is matched to the previously established third essence through life, discourse, and temporal animation. References: III.2.23, III.2.29, III.2.30. See Soul.

haud propria omnino ratione

haud propria omnino ratione. Printed forms: haud propria omnino ratione.

Not in an altogether proper sense. The qualification governs even “intelligible” and “intellection” as names for God; they must not be presented as exhaustive literal definitions. References: I.6.13. See Naming and defining.

more Platonico

more Platonico. Printed forms: more Platonico.

In Platonic usage or manner. Ficino expressly marks his convention of calling every form divided in body a quality, rather than claiming a single universal dictionary definition. References: I.3.1. See Naming and defining.