From the book
Marsilio Ficino’s Platonic Theology, Volume I
Marsilio Ficino · Diotimos Editions · 2026
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At a Glance
- The wordThese phrases limit a predication, introduce approximate wording, express a tentative judgment, or attribute a claim.
- In the Platonic TheologyQuodammodo allows forms or powers to be predicated in a qualified respect.
- In this editionThe translation usually preserves these as “in a certain sense,” “so to speak,” “perhaps,” “some,” or “I believe.”
- A place to readUt quidam putant reserves one account of knowing matter through the idea of form.
Meaning
These phrases limit a predication, introduce approximate wording, express a tentative judgment, or attribute a claim. They are small expressions with large effects on what the text actually asserts.
Use in the book
Quodammodo allows forms or powers to be predicated in a qualified respect. Ut ita dicam and ut ita loquar mark conscious adjustments of language, including imitation of divine form and the ordering of beings. Forsitan makes the proposed rationale for a Zoroastrian saying tentative. A quibusdam limits one formulation of the necessity of divine willing to unnamed thinkers; sunt et qui likewise introduces the empyrean classification. Arbitror marks Ficino’s assessment that an argument has been established or a riddle resolved. Such qualifications are neither all expressions of doubt nor all dispensable ornaments. Some mark a claim’s mode, some its source, and some the confidence with which it is advanced. The immediate context determines which.
Selected annotated passages.
Places to read
Translation in this edition
The translation usually preserves these as “in a certain sense,” “so to speak,” “perhaps,” “some,” or “I believe.” A glossary or shortened quotation must retain the locally important restriction even when English can otherwise smooth it away.
aut semper aut plurimum
aut semper aut plurimum. Printed forms: aut semper aut plurimum.
Always or for the most part. The qualification limits the regularity claim about natural paths and works; it should not be rewritten as exceptionless observed success. References: II.13.9. See Qualification and attribution.
coniectari
coniectari. Printed forms: coniectari.
Infer or conjecture. Ficino marks an inferential step from the comparative efficacy of intellect to the force of divine will. References: II.11.32. See Qualification and attribution.
Deus ipse viderit
Deus ipse viderit. Printed forms: Deus ipse viderit.
Let God himself see to or judge it. The phrase marks Ficino’s express reservation after Plotinus’s reported conclusion. References: II.12.11. See Qualification and attribution.
dubitatio / respondere
dubitatio / respondere. Printed forms: dubitatio; Respondeamus.
Difficulty or doubt / answer. The self-motion objection is stated before the painter analogy provides a response; it should not be mistaken for Ficino’s final denial. References: III.1.27. See Qualification and attribution.
dumtaxat
dumtaxat. Printed forms: dumtaxat.
Only, restricting a stated class. Intellectual operation is assigned only to the more excellent kinds; the restriction identifies its narrower distribution. References: II.11.12. See Qualification and attribution.
ferme / ut ita loquar
ferme / ut ita loquar. Printed forms: ferme; ut ita loquar.
Almost or approximately / so to speak. These qualify angel’s likeness to divine immobility and prevent the comparison from erasing its inferior mode. References: III.1.13. See Qualification and attribution.
forsitan / quodammodo
forsitan / quodammodo. Printed forms: forsitan; quodammodo.
Perhaps / in a certain way. Both qualifications limit the proposed explanation of the saying about divine self-production. References: II.12.8. See Qualification and attribution.
immo / potius / minime
immo / potius / minime. Printed forms: immo; Minime.
Rather, indeed, or by no means. These words sharpen a correction or rejection: the text revises bare-nature language and denies that soul fills body like a divided quality. References: II.11.12, III.2.10. See Qualification and attribution.
inquam / inquit
inquam / inquit. Printed forms: inquam; inquit.
I say / he says. Inquam reinforces or clarifies the author’s assertion, whereas inquit can introduce an attributed authority’s words. Their voices should not be merged. References: II.11.37, II.11.38. See Qualification and attribution.
occasio / nancisci
occasio / nancisci. Printed forms: occasionem nacti.
An occasion found or obtained. Ficino marks the Ideas discussion as an excursus arising almost by chance, without making chance his cosmic first cause. References: II.11.21. See Qualification and attribution.
puta
puta. Printed forms: puta.
For example or namely. The parenthetical introduces bodies and qualities as examples of things moved by another; it is not an assertion attributed to a thinker. References: III.1.23. See Qualification and attribution.
putare / arbitrari
putare / arbitrari. Printed forms: arbitror; putant.
Think, judge, or hold. These verbs can mark an attributed doctrine or Ficino’s own assessment of a proof’s success; they do not always express doubt. References: II.11.19, III.1.23. See Qualification and attribution.
quandoque
quandoque. Printed forms: quandoque.
At some time, eventually, or at length. The substance argument uses it within a possibility claim; the transition in III.2.1 instead means coming at last to the desired subject. References: II.11.5, III.2.1. See Qualification and attribution.
quorsum
quorsum. Printed forms: Quorsum.
To what end or why this discussion? The rhetorical question signals the conclusion: unactualized, noncontradictory possibilities fall within divine power. References: II.12.18. See Qualification and attribution.
solus / solum
solus / solum. Printed forms: solum; solus.
Alone or only. God alone creates matter without a subject; action through bare nature alone is rejected as sufficient. This exclusivity vocabulary is unrelated to sol, the sun. References: II.11.9, II.11.10. See Qualification and attribution.
suspicari
suspicari. Printed forms: suspicetur.
Suspect or entertain a supposition. The warning forbids entertaining the thought that God’s being and activity occur by chance; this differs from suspicere, look upward. References: II.12.2. See Qualification and attribution.
volente Deo
volente Deo. Printed forms: volente Deo.
God willing. The conventional qualification accompanies the announced next proof and differs from the technical analysis of divine will that follows. References: II.11.24. See Qualification and attribution.