From the book
Marsilio Ficino’s Platonic Theology, Volume II
Marsilio Ficino · Diotimos Editions · 2026
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At a Glance
- The wordCopula is a bond; compages a joined structure.
- In the Platonic TheologyBody is described as dispersed in three ways: distance separates its parts, temporal succession changes its conditions, and contrary qualities resist one another.
- In this editionThe three verbs unit, sistit and continet answer three problems rather than merely repeating “unifies.”
- A place to readSpatial, temporal and qualitative dispersions are distinguished.
Meaning
Copula is a bond; compages a joined structure. Consonantia and concordia express agreement without requiring literal sound. Substantia copulatrix is a substance performing the binding, distinguishable from the copulatum, the thing bound.
Use in the book
Body is described as dispersed in three ways: distance separates its parts, temporal succession changes its conditions, and contrary qualities resist one another. Extension, perpetual motion and qualitative contrariety therefore undermine unity, constancy and concord. Yet actual bodies do possess a binding of parts. Ficino infers an additional power that unites distance, arrests flux and holds discordant qualities in simple concord.
If that binder were itself a body, it would need another binder, and so on. Soul is therefore identified as the inward binding substance or its power, rather than as the composite it binds. In an animal the concrete example is the joining of contrary humours and diverse members; departure of soul dissolves the arrangement. A form divided through body cannot supply the missing stability either, because, as the Platonists hold, it loses simplicity and constancy along with the body. The argument does not say no bodily unity exists; it argues that bodily nature considered by itself is insufficient to account for the unity that does exist.
Places to read
Translation in this edition
The three verbs unit, sistit and continet answer three problems rather than merely repeating “unifies.” The apparatus reads VI.8.6’s quod with alio continente: the required containing principle stays one. Historical elemental physics and humoral physiology remain the premises of the example.
amittere; quaerere; fugere
amittere; quaerere; fugere. Printed forms: amittere; fugam; fugiat; quaerere.
To lose, seek and flee. The language personifies perpetual change and qualitative conflict, not conscious decisions by bodily qualities. References: VI.8.3. See Unity, dispersion and the inward bond.
compages; devincire
compages; devincire. Printed forms: compagem; devincire; diffluunt.
A joined structure; to bind firmly; to flow apart. Humours and members form one animal through soul, then disperse when that principle departs. References: VI.8.5. See Unity, dispersion and the inward bond.
consonantia; dissonus
consonantia; dissonus. Printed forms: concordiam; consonantiam; dissonas.
Concord, discordant and agreement. A simple binder coordinates opposed bodily qualities without itself repeating their discord. References: VI.8.5. See Unity, dispersion and the inward bond.
copula; copulatrix
copula; copulatrix. Printed forms: copula; copulantem; copulatum; substantia copulatrix.
Bond, binding power, what is bound and binding substance. Soul or its power performs the binding; it must not be identified with the composite already bound. References: VI.8.5. See Unity, dispersion and the inward bond.
dispersus; distantia
dispersus; distantia. Printed forms: dispersum; distantiam partium.
Dispersed; distance between parts. Spatial separation is the first bodily feature requiring an account of the unity nevertheless present. References: VI.8.1. See Unity, dispersion and the inward bond.
extensio; contrarietas
extensio; contrarietas. Printed forms: contrarietas; Extensio; qualitatibus.
Extension and opposition of qualities. One separates parts spatially; the other drives incompatible qualities apart within a composite. References: VI.8.2, VI.8.3. See Unity, dispersion and the inward bond.
nectere; conspirare
nectere; conspirare. Printed forms: conspirantibus; nectitur.
To bind together and cooperate toward one result. Actual bodily cohesion is conceded, then explained through a principle beyond dispersed bodily nature. References: VI.8.4. See Unity, dispersion and the inward bond.
raptus caelorum
raptus caelorum. Printed forms: raptu caelorum.
The sweep or rapid carrying motion of the heavens. Ficino’s historical cosmology explains intensified variation in elemental bodies by celestial motion. References: VI.8.2. See Unity, dispersion and the inward bond.
simplicitas; constantia
simplicitas; constantia. Printed forms: consistat; simplicitatis et constantiae.
Simplicity and stability in itself. A divided bodily form lacks these in the requisite way and therefore needs an undispersed containing principle. References: VI.8.6. See Unity, dispersion and the inward bond.
succedere; momenta
succedere; momenta. Printed forms: momenta succedunt; variantur.
Successive moments and changing conditions. Temporal dispersion is distinguished from spatial distance; stable bodily unity cannot simply be assumed from either. References: VI.8.1. See Unity, dispersion and the inward bond.
unire; sistere; continere
unire; sistere; continere. Printed forms: continet; sistit; Sistit; unit; Unit.
To unite, stabilize and hold together. The three verbs respectively answer distance, flux and qualitative discord; their functions are not identical. References: VI.8.4, VI.8.5. See Unity, dispersion and the inward bond.