Persuasion and compulsion · Lexicon

From the book

Marsilio Ficino’s Platonic Theology, Volume I

Marsilio Ficino · Diotimos Editions · 2026

Orientation

At a Glance

The wordAllicere attracts or entices, trahere drags or draws, cogere compels, and persuadere persuades.
In the Platonic TheologyGod governs each nature according to its mode: elements rise or fall, animals walk, and heavens revolve.
In this editionThe English’s “in a certain sense compel” preserves quasi.
A place to readPreservation of nature differentiates persuasion from dragging.

Meaning

Allicere attracts or entices, trahere drags or draws, cogere compels, and persuadere persuades. Pulsare strikes or impels. Quasi qualifies the apparent compulsion discussed after persuasion.

Use in the book

God governs each nature according to its mode: elements rise or fall, animals walk, and heavens revolve. Souls are impelled freely, attracted rather than dragged, persuaded rather than compelled. A saying attributed to Zoroaster supplies the contrast between fear and persuasion. Yet the next unit says that God “as it were” compels souls toward the good, so that they cannot fail to will good itself. The two statements concern different levels. Necessary orientation toward goodness is retained; judgment among particular means remains free. Even a desire to cease desiring treats that cessation as good. Ficino’s reconciliation therefore requires the final paragraph’s deliberation and choice, not merely the attractive language of persuasion. It also prevents the qualified necessity of seeking good from certifying each particular choice as actually beneficial.

Selected annotated passages.

Places to read

II.13.26Preservation of nature differentiates persuasion from dragging.
II.13.27The fear–persuasion saying is attributed to Zoroaster.
II.13.28Quasi marks the qualified compulsion toward good.
II.13.30Free judgment selects among particular proposed means.

Translation in this edition

The English’s “in a certain sense compel” preserves quasi. Leaving it out would make the apparent reversal sharper than the Latin. Alliciat expresses attraction here; it does not independently imply deception.

allicere / cogere / persuadere

allicere / cogere / persuadere. Printed forms: alliciat; cogat; cogit; persuadeat.

Attract / compel / persuade. Persuasion preserves soul’s free manner, while the subsequent qualified compulsion concerns willing goodness itself. References: II.13.26, II.13.28. See Persuasion and compulsion.

metus / persuasio

metus / persuasio. Printed forms: metum; persuasionem.

Fear / persuasion. The attributed Zoroastrian saying rejects the instilling of fear in favor of persuasion. References: II.13.27. See Persuasion and compulsion.

pulsare

pulsare. Printed forms: pulsat.

Strike, stir, or impel. The verb’s force is qualified by freely: divine impulsion of souls proceeds according to their nature. References: II.13.26. See Persuasion and compulsion.

raptare

raptare. Printed forms: raptaret.

Sweep or carry away forcefully. The counterfactual necessity of producing all things would also compel and sweep each along at once. References: II.11.38. See Persuasion and compulsion.

vim inferre

vim inferre. Printed forms: vim inferre.

Do violence or impose force. Ficino forestalls the inference that divine choice compels every created cause to act in one unvarying manner. References: II.12.19. See Persuasion and compulsion.