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Human orientation and philosophical life

Precious and lowly

vilissimarum; viliora; pretiosiora; pretiosissima; nobilem; formosa; exactissima arte; aptissime consonare

Vilis can mean cheap or lowly, pretiosus valuable or precious, and nobilis distinguished or excellent.

From the book

Marsilio Ficino’s Platonic Theology, Volume I

Marsilio Ficino · Diotimos Editions · 2026

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Orientation

At a Glance

  • The wordVilis can mean cheap or lowly, pretiosus valuable or precious, and nobilis distinguished or excellent.
  • In the Platonic TheologyFicino refuses the objection, attributed to Epicurus and Averroes, that knowledge of the lowest things is beneath divine majesty.
  • In this edition“Commonly called” and “when considered in isolation” are indispensable qualifications.
  • A place to readThe polemic turns from supposed unworthiness to knowledge of the whole order

Meaning

Vilis can mean cheap or lowly, pretiosus valuable or precious, and nobilis distinguished or excellent. Formosus concerns beauty. Here value-language ranks things in the universe and should not automatically be reduced to market prices.

Use in the book

Ficino refuses the objection, attributed to Epicurus and Averroes, that knowledge of the lowest things is beneath divine majesty. The good of the whole order is greater than the excellence of one isolated part; understanding that order requires distinguishing the higher and lower things whose intervals and proportions constitute it.

He then corrects ordinary appraisal. What people call lowest is made with exacting art, and what appears less beautiful in isolation harmonizes fittingly with itself and with other things in the whole. This does not assert that every part is equally beautiful or that all ranks disappear. The argument preserves difference while denying that lower rank excludes an object from divine knowledge.

Places to read

  1. II.9.20, II.9.21The polemic turns from supposed unworthiness to knowledge of the whole order
  2. II.9.22Exact craft and relational harmony qualify ordinary judgments of baseness

Translation in this edition

“Commonly called” and “when considered in isolation” are indispensable qualifications. “Impious Averroes” is Ficino’s polemical address, not the lexicon’s judgment or a neutral historical characterization.

formosus / exactus / ars

formosus / exactus / ars. Printed forms: arte; exactissima; exactius; formosa.

Beautiful, exact, and craft or skill. Exact intelligence is attributed to God; exacting craftsmanship is attributed to even things commonly called lowly. References: II.9.2, II.9.22. See Precious and lowly.

maiestas / indignus

maiestas / indignus. Printed forms: indignam; maiestate.

Majesty and what is deemed unworthy of it. Ficino reports and rejects the objection that knowledge of the basest things compromises divine dignity. References: II.9.20. See Precious and lowly.

putare / videri as appearance

putare / videri as appearance. Printed forms: videntur; videri; videtur.

To appear or seem, without automatically certifying the appearance as reality. Regional operations seem more manifest; isolated things seem less beautiful; both appearances are qualified by a broader account. References: II.6.17, II.6.24, II.9.22. See Precious and lowly.

vilis / pretiosus / nobilis

vilis / pretiosus / nobilis. Printed forms: nobilem; pretiosiora; pretiosissima; viliora; vilissima; vilissimarum.

Lowly, precious, or excellent in rank and common appraisal. The whole order includes relations among higher and lower things, so divine knowledge must distinguish both. References: II.9.20, II.9.21, II.9.22. See Precious and lowly.