From the book
Marsilio Ficino’s Platonic Theology, Volume II
Marsilio Ficino · Diotimos Editions · 2026
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At a Glance
- The wordFigura is shape or configuration, not automatically a mental image.
- In the Platonic TheologyThe objection appeals to bodily shape: flesh changes while the same figure seems to remain, so why could cognition not remain through replacement of soul-substance?
- In this editionThe apparatus preserves M1482’s labat rather than the later labatur and emphasizes similes, “similar,” throughout.
- A place to readNumerical sameness and approximate reproduced likeness are distinguished through the internal craftsman.
Meaning
Figura is shape or configuration, not automatically a mental image. Reficere fashions anew; depingere paints or depicts. The inward artifex or faber is a productive craftsman. Rationes et semina are the patterns and seeds by which it arranges the body’s members.
Use in the book
The objection appeals to bodily shape: flesh changes while the same figure seems to remain, so why could cognition not remain through replacement of soul-substance? Ficino first denies exact numerical sameness of bodily figure. The old figure departs with old flesh and a newly fashioned one resembles it in some measure. This recurring resemblance requires a supremely stable inward craftsman holding the formative patterns and seeds, capable of proportioning fresh humours and shaping fresh flesh.
A face looking down at a river then depicts itself in ever-new waves, making the same face seem to persist within the water. The stable face is distinct from the replacing reflections; apparent continuity in the stream depends on a source outside its flux. Ficino identifies the inward bodily craftsman as soul. If soul itself also flowed, neither continued bodily resemblance nor similar knowledge would be explained. The image therefore answers the objection rather than simply accepting that unchanged pattern can survive without an enduring agent.
Places to read
Translation in this edition
The apparatus preserves M1482’s labat rather than the later labatur and emphasizes similes, “similar,” throughout. The river analogy supplies a causal distinction between face and reflections, not a general assertion that all appearances are unreal.
artifex stabilissimus
artifex stabilissimus. Printed forms: artifice stabilissimo; interius fabricante.
A supremely stable craftsman working within. The repeated bodily likeness is explained by a source that remains the same while the matter is renewed. References: VI.13.9. See Stable craftsman and the river reflection.
depingere; effigies
depingere; effigies. Printed forms: depingit; effigies et figuras.
To depict; likenesses and shapes. Successive images can resemble one another because the stable source continuously produces them. References: VI.13.10. See Stable craftsman and the river reflection.
faber intimus
faber intimus. Printed forms: Intimus autem ille faber corporis atque stabilis.
The inward stable craftsman of body. Ficino identifies this source with soul and argues that if it too flowed, bodily likeness and retained knowledge would lose their explanation. References: VI.13.10. See Stable craftsman and the river reflection.
figura eadem; similis
figura eadem; similis. Printed forms: eandem prorsus; figuram eandem; similem.
The same figure, distinguished from a similar one newly produced. The reply denies exact numerical persistence of the bodily figure as its material constituents change. References: VI.13.9. See Stable craftsman and the river reflection.
permanere; stabilire; stabilis
permanere; stabilire; stabilis. Printed forms: consistent; consistere; stabili; stabiliat; stabilis; stabilissimo; stabilitate; stabunt; stante; stare.
Stable, establishing stability and remaining firm. The inward craftsman and ruler must endure while bodily material changes; stability of substance does not deny successive activity. References: VI.2.25, VI.9.4, VI.13.6, VI.13.7, VI.13.8, VI.13.9, VI.13.10. See Stable craftsman and the river reflection.
rationes et semina
rationes et semina. Printed forms: rationes et semina.
Formative patterns and seeds for arranging members. These reside in the stable maker and explain recurrent shaping of fresh humours and flesh. References: VI.13.9. See Stable craftsman and the river reflection.
reficere
reficere. Printed forms: refici; reficit.
To restore or refresh after exertion. Sleep's natural restorative role explains the soul's yielding to the bodily change in this account. References: V.15.23. See Sleep and dreams.
To fashion afresh. A new shape resembling the former one is made in new flesh, rather than the old shape migrating numerically. References: VI.13.9. See Stable craftsman and the river reflection.
similis; idem
similis; idem. Printed forms: eadem; earundem; eiusdem; idem; iisdem; simile; similem; similes; similia; similis; similiter.
Similar and the same, with the distinction between resemblance and numerical identity decisive locally. Reproduced bodily figures may resemble their predecessors without being numerically identical; the memory argument asks for an enduring receiver, not only a similar successor. References: VI.2.2, VI.8.2, VI.9.1, VI.13.3, VI.13.6, VI.13.9, VI.13.10. See Stable craftsman and the river reflection.
vultus; flumen; unda
vultus; flumen; unda. Printed forms: flumen; undas; vultus.
Face, river and waves. The enduring face paints ever-new reflections in changing waters, distinguishing stable source from apparent persistence in a stream. References: VI.13.10. See Stable craftsman and the river reflection.