The whole mind and the measure of equality · Lexicon

From the book

Marsilio Ficino’s Platonic Theology, Volume II

Marsilio Ficino · Diotimos Editions · 2026

Orientation

At a Glance

The wordSe toto means with its whole self.
In the Platonic TheologyA bodily container receives by dimensional correspondence: more of the container answers to more of its content.
In this editionThe correction non hoc pacto denies that intellect receives in the bodily way.
A place to readLimb comparison, dramatically different animal sizes and supreme equality form three steps in one chapter.

Meaning

Se toto means with its whole self. Adaequatio is an appropriate correspondence or matching, which can be quantitative for bodies but cognitive for mind. Supreme equality supplies a standard, not an unusually large body.

Use in the book

A bodily container receives by dimensional correspondence: more of the container answers to more of its content. Mind, Ficino argues, knows the entire human body and each limb with the whole of its knowing power. Comparison supplies the test. If one isolated part knew only one limb and another only a different limb, neither could compare them or relate both to the whole. The same knower must have access to the terms it compares.

The examples of dog, ant, horse, elephant and sun make size disparity explicit. One body cannot be quantitatively equal to all these bodies at once. Mind nevertheless apprehends each without changing to its bulk. Its correspondence is therefore not the equality of containing volumes.

The argument ascends further: mind judges more and less equal things by their relation to equality itself. It thus stands cognitively between participants and the standard of participation. Ficino draws a consequence for its resistance to disproportionate bodily qualities. The phrase “in a certain manner” restricts the claim that mind equals supreme equality; it should not be turned into numerical identity with a divine principle.

The whole-in-each vocabulary in this passage explains the unity of comparing awareness. It differs from the preceding chapter's logical relations among propositions and from the following chapter's preservation of intellectual identity through reception.

Places to read

VIII.6.1Limb comparison, dramatically different animal sizes and supreme equality form three steps in one chapter.

Translation in this edition

The correction non hoc pacto denies that intellect receives in the bodily way. The apparatus renders adaequari by “matched” or “commensurate”; the relevant kind of measure must be supplied from the argument.

adaequatio

adaequatio. Printed forms: adaequationem.

An equal fitting or quantitative correspondence between a container and what it contains. The opening bodily model requires a whole to fit a whole and corresponding parts to fit parts. Ficino denies that intellect receives by that dimensional mechanism: the whole intellect apprehends both a whole body and each member. The later adaequatur describes cognitive correspondence, not equal bodily size. References: VIII.6.1. See The whole mind and the measure of equality.

aequalitas summa

aequalitas summa. Printed forms: aequalitatem summam; aequalitatis ipsius; summae aequalitati.

Supreme equality as the standard of more and less equal things. Mind mediates cognitively between participants and equality itself; its qualified matching to the standard does not make it God. References: VIII.6.1. See The whole mind and the measure of equality.

aequari / aequare

aequari / aequare. Printed forms: aequabitur; aequantur; aequare; aequari; aequat; aequatur.

Equalling or matching, by quantity or by cognitive correspondence according to context. Bodies cannot match every magnitude at once; mind matches different objects by understanding and is only qualifiedly matched to infinity. References: VIII.3.1, VIII.4.8, VIII.4.9, VIII.4.13, VIII.6.1, VIII.9.1, VIII.16.3. See The whole mind and the measure of equality.

canis / formica / equus / elephas / sol

canis / formica / equus / elephas / sol. Printed forms: canis; elephantis; equi; formicae; solis.

Dog, ant, horse, elephant and sun, illustrating extreme disparity of bodily size. One body cannot be dimensionally equal to all, but mind understands each with its whole power. Solis here is the sun, not restrictive 'alone'. References: VIII.6.1. See The whole mind and the measure of equality.

capere / comprehendere

capere / comprehendere. Printed forms: apprehendet; apprehendit; capere; caperet; capiat; capit; capiunt; comprehendat; comprehenderet; comprehendimus; comprehendit; comprehenditur; comprehenduntur.

Receiving or grasping, without an automatic implication of spatial enclosure. Bodily containment is quantitative; mind can apprehend a whole and each part with its whole power, including contraries and incorporeals. References: VIII.4.2, VIII.4.4, VIII.4.11, VIII.5.1, VIII.6.1, VIII.10.1, VIII.10.2, VIII.12.1, VIII.16.3. See The whole mind and the measure of equality.

comparare / referre

comparare / referre. Printed forms: adaequatur; comparat; refert.

Comparing, relating and matching, as intellectual rather than dimensional operations. Whole and parts must be available to the same knower, whose correspondence to large and small objects is not equality of bulk. References: VIII.6.1. See The whole mind and the measure of equality.

impedire / cohibere / claudere

impedire / cohibere / claudere. Printed forms: claudi; clauditur; cohibent; impediat; impedimentum.

Impeding, restraining or enclosing, bodily or explanatory according to context. Fear obstructs action, a middle point cannot create distance, and spatial intervals do not enclose intellectual comparison in the way they bound bodies. References: VIII.3.1, VIII.4.2, VIII.9.1, VIII.10.2, VIII.14.1. See The whole mind and the measure of equality.

membrum

membrum. Printed forms: membra; membrorum; membrum.

A bodily member or limb, serving both as instrument and as a part compared with a whole. Changing fitness of limbs need not change the art using them; comparison of each limb with others requires a single knower. References: VIII.2.3, VIII.4.10, VIII.6.1. See The whole mind and the measure of equality.

mensura / magnitudo

mensura / magnitudo. Printed forms: longitudinem; longitudo; magnitudine; magnitudinem; magnitudines; magnitudinis; magnitudo; mensura; mensurae.

Measured extent or magnitude, as distinct from the nonextended account through which it is known. A point limits magnitude; later mind knows large and small objects without equalling either in bulk. References: VIII.2.5, VIII.4.1, VIII.4.2, VIII.4.3, VIII.4.12, VIII.5.1, VIII.10.2. See The whole mind and the measure of equality.

pars / totum

pars / totum. Printed forms: dimidia; dimidium; Pars; pars; partem; partes; partibus; particula; particulas; partium; tota; totius; toto; totum.

Part and whole, with relations that cannot be reduced to mere numerical repetition. The intellect distinguishes whole from parts, compares limbs and knows each with its whole self; hypothetical spatial parts fail to explain this unity. References: VIII.4.3, VIII.4.5, VIII.4.6, VIII.4.7, VIII.5.1, VIII.6.1, VIII.16.1. See The whole mind and the measure of equality.

se toto

se toto. Printed forms: se tota; se toto.

With its whole self, describing the undivided knower's reception. The same intellect knows the human body and each limb and can compare them; different isolated knowing parts could not perform that comparison. References: VIII.6.1. See The whole mind and the measure of equality.