FICINO, MARSILIO

Italian philosopher and leader of the Platonic Academy of Florence; b. Figline, Oct. 19, 1433; d. Florence, Oct. 1, 1499. Little is known of his youth and education, but he probably studied Latin, philosophy, medicine, and theology. His earliest writings date from about 1454 and show strong scholastic influences. He began studying Greek in 1456, and ultimately translated the complete writings of Plato (1463–73; printed Florence, 1484), Plotinus (1484–92; printed Florence, 1492), and Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite (1492; printed Florence, 1496). In 1462, Cosimo de'Medici granted Ficino the use of a number of Greek manuscripts and a villa at Careggi, where he devoted himself to the study of Platonic philosophy. There he was instrumental in founding the Platonic Academy, which became one of the foremost intellectual centers of Europe. At Careggi, Ficino wrote his major philosophical work, Theologia platonica (1469–74; printed Florence, 1482), and his Commentary on Plato's Symposium or De amore (1469; printed Florence, 1484). Ficino was ordained in 1473 and a year later wrote De christiana religione (printed Florence, 1476). With the expulsion the Medici from Florence in 1494, Ficino retired to the country.

As leader of the Platonic Academy, Ficino assumed the task of reviving platonism, translating many works of the tradition into Latin. He was first led to an interest in Plato through the works of Augustine, who played a major role in the formation of Ficino's religious thought. He considered Aristotelian scholasticism to have degenerated into a series of antireligious philosophies, and envisioned the revived Platonism as a safeguard against this tendency.

Ficino saw religion as the identifying mark of man, distinguishing him from the lower animals. Philosophy and religion were considered parallel paths to truth: true religion (Christianity) and true philosophy (Platonism) ultimately must agree, for they stem from the same source, the contemplation of God. As the title of one of his letters indicates, "Philosophy and Religion are Sisters."

The hierarchical structure of Ficino's universe, derived in large measure from Neoplatonic sources, shows some originality. Ficino's universe is fivefold: God, angelic mind, rational soul, quality, and body. Rational soul, or man, has a place of preeminence as the connecting link between the immortal and the mortal. Man thus has a mobility wherein he can rise to God or fall to baseness, an idea further developed by Giovanni pico della mirandola.

According to Ficino's theory of natural appetite, the world demands that all things move toward their natural end. Man's end is the contemplation of, and union with, God; since this can rarely be achieved in life, personal immortality must be postulated. Much of the Theologia platonica is devoted to rational arguments for the immortality of the soul, drawn from Plato's Phaedo, Plotinus, and other sources.

In De amore, which animates Plato's Symposium with the Christian charity of Paul and Augustine, Ficino developed his notion of "Platonic (or Socratic) love," as contrasted to "vulgar love." The former concept, original with Ficino, is essentially a communion between friends based ultimately on the soul's love for God.

Ficino's influence, direct and indirect, was enormous. His translations and commentaries on the works of Plato and Plotinus were standard throughout Europe for several centuries. Traces of his thought are discernible in thinkers as diverse, geographically and intellectually, as J. colet, the cambridge platonists, herbert of cherbury, and later deists in England; lefÈvre d'etaples in France; and F. S. patrizi, G. bruno, and T. campanella in Italy. His love theory is a basic ingredient in Renaissance literature, traces of it being found in Lorenzo de'Medici, Michelangelo, and Pietro Bembo in Italy; the Pléiade group and Scève in France; and E. Spenser in England.

Bibliography: Opera (Basel 1561; repr. 2 v. Paris 1641; rev. ed. Basel 1576; photo. repr. 2 v. in 4, Turin 1959); Supplementum Ficinianum, ed. p. o. kristeller, 2 v. (Florence 1937), works not in 1576 ed.; Marsile Ficin: Commentaire sur le "Banquet" de Platon, ed. and tr. r. marcel (Paris 1956); "Five Questions Concerning the Mind," The Renaissance Philosophy of Man, ed. e. cassirer et al. (Chicago 1948) 193–212; Marsilio Ficino's Commentary on Plato's "Symposium," tr. and ed. s. r. jayne (University of Missouri Studies 19.1; Columbia 1944). p. o. kristeller, The Philosophy of Marsilio Ficino, tr. v. conant (New York 1943); Studies in Renaissance Thought and Letters (Rome 1956). r. marcel, Marsile Ficin (1433–1499) (Paris 1958), fullest bibliog.

[c. b. schmitt]