Natural species and succession · Lexicon

From the book

Marsilio Ficino’s Platonic Theology, Volume I

Marsilio Ficino · Diotimos Editions · 2026

Orientation

At a Glance

The wordSpecies naturalis names a natural kind or determining form; singula its individual instances.
In the Platonic TheologyIV.1.86–IV.1.872 distinguishes what a natural species receives from different causal levels.
In this editionThe translation at IV.1.87 preserves “in some measure mutable even in substance” and “appear perpetual.”
A place to readA natural species receives being and unity from God, order from mind, and perpetuity from stable sources

Meaning

Species naturalis names a natural kind or determining form; singula its individual instances. Successio is one thing following another. Perpetuity of a kind through successive individuals is therefore a different mode of persistence from an unchanging individual substance.

Use in the book

IV.1.86–IV.1.872 distinguishes what a natural species receives from different causal levels. Being and unity come from God, order from mind, and perpetuity from these stable causes; multiplicity among individuals and mutability come through soul and heaven. Species therefore display a kind of persistence through the succession of changing individuals. This is not the same mode of permanence possessed by mind and soul, which Ficino calls immutable in substance despite the changeable action of souls. Nor should species here automatically be equated with the modern biological species concept. It participates in a wider vocabulary of form, intelligible determination, and the kind of thing produced. The passage is useful for readers trying to reconcile apparently perpetual nature with continual generation and corruption: the levels of causal dependence and the distinction between a kind and its instances do the explanatory work.

Further passage references. IV.1.86–IV.1.872; IV.2.20; apparatus.

Places to read

IV.1.86A natural species receives being and unity from God, order from mind, and perpetuity from stable sources
IV.1.87Soul and heaven mediate multiplicity and change; individuals succeed one another continuously
IV.2.20Matter attains through succession forms it cannot possess together

Translation in this edition

The translation at IV.1.87 preserves “in some measure mutable even in substance” and “appear perpetual.” Neither qualification should disappear. The historical species language cannot simply be equated with a modern biological species concept or evolutionary mechanism.

stabilis / instabilis / inordinatus

stabilis / instabilis / inordinatus. Printed forms: inordinataeque; instabiles; stabilem.

Stable; unstable; unordered or lacking order. Individual qualities cannot independently explain stable generational succession and recurring appointed effects in Ficino’s argument. References: I.3.11. See Natural species and succession.

statutis temporibus / quovis tempore

statutis temporibus / quovis tempore. Printed forms: quovis tempore; statutis; temporibus.

At appointed times; at any time or throughout the recurring order. One and the same directing cause is inferred from recurrent effects, not from a claim that each individual quality remains permanently unchanged. References: I.3.11. See Natural species and succession.

successio / curriculum

successio / curriculum. Printed forms: curriculis; successione.

Succession and a recurring course or cycle. Stable generations and appointed times are used to infer one enduring directive cause behind unstable qualities. References: I.3.11. See Natural species and succession.

successio singulorum

successio singulorum. Printed forms: generationis successionem; singulorum successionem.

Succession of individuals or generated instances. A species can be perpetually maintained through changing individuals, unlike the substantial stability of mind and soul. References: IV.1.87. See Natural species and succession.