DiotimosReading Desk

Authorities traditions and their reception

Philosophers and stopping points

Democritiorum; Cyrenaicorum; Epicureorum; Stoicorum Cynicorumque; Heraclitus; Marcus Varro; Marcus Manilius; Anaxagoras et Hermotimus.

The first several names appear as group genitives: the followers or schools whose inquiry is described.

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 wordThe first several names appear as group genitives: the followers or schools whose inquiry is described.
  • In the Platonic TheologyFicino assigns the followers of Democritus, the Cyrenaics and Epicureans to bodily bulk; Stoics and Cynics to effective quality; Heraclitus, Varro and Manilius to rational soul; and Anaxagoras and Hermotimus to angelic mind.
  • In this edition“Followers of Democritus” makes the school-name construction visible.
  • A place to readThe historical names articulate the five-level prospectus

Meaning

The first several names appear as group genitives: the followers or schools whose inquiry is described. Finiebatur, ascenderunt and quievisse mark limits, ascent and rest. Their apparently spatial language classifies philosophical achievements within Ficino’s hierarchy.

Use in the book

Ficino assigns the followers of Democritus, the Cyrenaics and Epicureans to bodily bulk; Stoics and Cynics to effective quality; Heraclitus, Varro and Manilius to rational soul; and Anaxagoras and Hermotimus to angelic mind. Plato directs the purified mind onward toward the divine sun. The list is a designed prospectus: the argument later revisits the stopping points and says why inquiry cannot halt there. It is not a comprehensive description of each thinker’s surviving works, nor independent evidence that the grouped schools all held identical theories. The shared task is to exceed what Ficino represents as an insufficient explanatory level. Videantur in the Anaxagoras–Hermotimus clause also marks a presentation more qualified than an unqualified historical verdict.

Places to read

  1. I.1.3–6234The historical names articulate the five-level prospectus
  2. I.2.8The bodily schools recur in the criticism of action from bulk
  3. I.3.1Ficino refuses to halt at the Stoic–Cynic quality level
  4. I.5.2; I.6.1The soul and angelic stopping points are revisited and exceeded

Translation in this edition

“Followers of Democritus” makes the school-name construction visible. “Seem to have come to rest” retains videantur... quievisse. The names receive their local roles without unverified biographies or retrospective judgements about their whole philosophies.

Anaxagoras / Hermotimus

Anaxagoras / Hermotimus. Printed forms: Anaxagora; Anaxagoras; Hermotimo; Hermotimus.

The thinkers represented as stopping at angelic mind. Ficino first says they seem to have rested there, then refuses to halt with them below divine unity. References: I.1.5, I.6.1. See Philosophers and stopping points.

Democritii / Cyrenaici / Epicurei

Democritii / Cyrenaici / Epicurei. Printed forms: Cyrenaici; Cyrenaicorum; Democritii; Democritiorum; Epicurei; Epicureorum.

The named schools grouped at the level of bodily bulk. Their common stopping point is Ficino’s argumentative classification; it is not a full historical account of three identical doctrines. References: I.1.3, I.2.8. See Philosophers and stopping points.

Heraclitus / Varro / Manilius

Heraclitus / Varro / Manilius. Printed forms: Heraclitus; Manilius; Marcus Varro; Marcusque Manilius; Varro.

The thinkers placed at the rational-soul level. Their names mark a stopping point the ascending argument must exceed, not an independently checked summary of all their writings. References: I.1.4, I.5.2. See Philosophers and stopping points.

Stoici / Cynici

Stoici / Cynici. Printed forms: Cynicorumque; Stoicorum.

The Stoics and Cynics in Ficino’s classification. They are represented as reaching efficacious quality, which the argument subsequently refuses to treat as the highest principle. References: I.1.3, I.3.1. See Philosophers and stopping points.