From the book
Marsilio Ficino’s Platonic Theology, Volume II
Marsilio Ficino · Diotimos Editions · 2026
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At a Glance
- The wordAn artifex is a skilled maker; a pedissequa is an attendant or handmaid.
- In the Platonic TheologySoul gives the living being its determinate substantial kind: this animal is dog, that horse, another human.
- In this editionThe translation retains “craftsman” and “handmaid” to preserve the force of artifex and pedissequa.
- A place to readThe principal craftsman determines organic growth through instrumental heat.
Meaning
An artifex is a skilled maker; a pedissequa is an attendant or handmaid. The contrast ranks causal roles. Fabricare, servare and reficere distinguish making, preserving and repairing, rather than treating animation as a single initial event.
Use in the book
Soul gives the living being its determinate substantial kind: this animal is dog, that horse, another human. An accident arrives in a subject already complete in its species; soul instead makes its own body, maintains what it has made, restores it when it fails, and joins conflicting elements. On departure of soul the bodily organization collapses and its previous constitution and kind are not maintained. Ficino presents these functions as evidence of substantial rather than accidental status.
A possible escape makes a merely nutritive soul build the body and a sensitive soul arrive later as an accident. Ficino rejects the division of labor. The body appropriate to sensation must already possess organs for sensing and locomotion, not only nourishment. There cannot be two souls in the one body, with one making instruments for the other. The soul that nourishes is the soul that senses.
The interaction of imagination and nourishment makes this unity visible in the argument: sorrow weakens the nutritive work, joy strengthens it. This is a historical psychophysiological observation used to support one soul with multiple offices; the text does not supply a modern medical rule or claim that every illness is caused by emotion. The concluding craftsman–handmaid contrast summarizes the soul’s productive priority. It complements the preceding account of heat as an instrument without turning the body into an inert object with no contributory powers.
Places to read
Translation in this edition
The translation retains “craftsman” and “handmaid” to preserve the force of artifex and pedissequa. “The soul which is solely nutritive” belongs to the proposed two-soul explanation; it should not be printed as Ficino’s accepted division within the same animal.
accidens adveniens
accidens adveniens. Printed forms: accidens; adveniat; advenit.
An accident arriving in a subject already complete in its kind. Ficino denies that a sensitive soul arrives this way after a merely nutritive soul has made its organs. References: VII.9.2. See Soul as the body’s craftsman.
anima nutritiva / sensitiva
anima nutritiva / sensitiva. Printed forms: anima nutritiva; anima sensitiva; nutriendi; nutrit; nutritiva; sensitiva; sensitivae.
Nutritive and sensitive aspects or proposed kinds of soul. The two-soul division of labor is rejected for the same animal: the soul that nourishes also senses. References: VII.9.2. See Soul as the body’s craftsman.
animal / animans
animal / animans. Printed forms: animal; animali; animalia; animalis; animantis.
A living creature; related adjectival usage means living or animate. This differs from anima, the principle of the creature’s life. The argument compares the whole living being’s organization with the soul that animates and senses through it. References: VII.1.2, VII.5.2, VII.5.4, VII.9.2, VII.12.1. See Soul as the body’s craftsman.
artifex / pedissequa / officium
artifex / pedissequa / officium. Printed forms: artifex; officia; pedissequa.
Craftsman, handmaid and function or office. Soul is the productive maker of body with nutritive and sensory offices, rather than a dependent attendant arriving after bodily formation. References: VII.9.2. See Soul as the body’s craftsman.
canis / equus / homo
canis / equus / homo. Printed forms: canis; equus; homo.
Dog, horse and human as examples of determinate living kinds. The soul supplies each animal’s substantial nature, not merely an accidental ornament of an already complete subject. References: VII.9.2. See Soul as the body’s craftsman.
connectere / labi / abire
connectere / labi / abire. Printed forms: abeunte; connectit; labitur.
To bind together, collapse and depart. Soul joins conflicting elements; its departure accompanies loss of the former bodily constitution and kind. References: VII.9.2. See Soul as the body’s craftsman.
fabricare / servare / reficere
fabricare / servare / reficere. Printed forms: fabricat; fabricet; reficit; servat.
To fashion, preserve and repair. The soul’s productive relation to its body extends beyond original formation to continuing maintenance and restoration. References: VII.9.2. See Soul as the body’s craftsman.
perturbatio / impedire / augere
perturbatio / impedire / augere. Printed forms: augent; impediunt; perturbationes.
Disturbances, hindering and increasing an activity. Sensory disturbances affect nutrition, illustrating the unity of the soul’s different offices. References: VII.9.2. See Soul as the body’s craftsman.
progredi / servire
progredi / servire. Printed forms: progrediendi; servitura.
To advance or move from place to place, and serve a power’s use. An animal requires organs of locomotion and sensation as well as nutrition; their formation cannot be assigned to a merely nutritive maker for a later soul. References: VII.9.2. See Soul as the body’s craftsman.
species / genus / cognomen
species / genus / cognomen. Printed forms: cognomen; generisque; specie; speciei; species.
Kind, genus and the corresponding name. Soul makes this living body a dog, horse or human; these taxonomic uses differ from sensory species. References: VII.9.2. See Soul as the body’s craftsman.
tristitia / laetitia / debilitare / roborare
tristitia / laetitia / debilitare / roborare. Printed forms: debilitat; laetitia; roborat; Tristitia.
Sorrow, joy, weakening and strengthening. Imagination’s sorrow and joy are said to affect nourishment; this is evidence in Ficino’s argument, not a universal medical rule. References: VII.9.2. See Soul as the body’s craftsman.