All Things Natural: Ficino on Plato's Timaeus

Copyright......Page 5
Contents......Page 6
Acknowledgements......Page 10
Translator’s Note on the Latin Texts......Page 12
Marsilio Ficino’s Compendium on the Timaeus......Page 16
1 The subject matter of the book......Page 18
3 Introduction to the dialogue......Page 19
4 An allegory of history; contents of the prologue......Page 20
5 The fall of Phaethon; floods; fires; a description of Minerva......Page 22
6 The finest directions concerning prayers and entreaties......Page 23
7 The world has three causes higher than itself, depends on the incorporeal cause, and is ever in flux......Page 25
8 The Good Itself, rather than subsequent causes, is the cause of all things, and it has no direct relationship with anything......Page 28
9 The dependence of matter on the Good Itself; the action of the mind and soul upon matter; and the intelligible world......Page 30
10 The Sun, light, radiance, brilliance, heat, procreation; likewise unity, goodness, intellect, soul, nature, the body of the world, the image of the higher worlds......Page 31
11 Individual orders are taken back to individual heads, and the universal order is taken back to the universal head, by which all things are composed through action and power......Page 33
12 Matter was not in disarray prior to the world in time, but was arranged according to some principle of order or origin......Page 35
13 Two views concerning the origin of the world......Page 36
14 A threefold inference drawn from Plato’s view of the world, and what is undisputed about his view......Page 37
15 By the grace of the Good the world has been brought into being in the likeness of the divine principle and the divine word......Page 39
16 Why the world is one, why it is spherical, and why its movement is spherical......Page 40
17 Why the world is divided into five or six regions; how the number seven is right for it; circular number; and how the world is arranged in the likeness of the intelligible world......Page 41
18 Why there are distinct parts within the world and why there is opposition among them; also concerning the four elements......Page 42
19 Numbers linear, plane, and solid; why a single intermediary is sufficient between planes but is not sufficient between solids; how mathematical ratios are related to physical ratios......Page 44
20 The first consideration: why the number four in relation to the elements befits the world......Page 47
21 The second consideration: proving the same......Page 48
22 The third consideration: confirming the same......Page 49
23 The fourth consideration of the same; and the powers and ratios of the elements......Page 50
24 The whole world is composed of four elements; how these elements are under a particular principle in the heavens and under a different principle beneath the Moon......Page 52
25 Circular motion is the property of every sphere in constant movement; and light is the principal property of fire......Page 55
26 A confirmation of what was said earlier; concerning fire, ether, the composition of the heavens, and the daemons in the heavens and beneath the heavens......Page 57
27 On the spirit of the world, that is, on intellect, soul, intelligence, and nature......Page 59
28 On the composition of the soul, and why the soul needs five elements for its constitution......Page 62
29 Why the soul is compared to a compound and to musical harmony......Page 66
30 The propositions and proportions related to Pythagorean and Platonic music......Page 69
31 In musical harmonies one is produced from the many; how harmony is defined......Page 73
32 Which harmonies arise from which proportions......Page 76
33 On the harmonious composition of the soul......Page 81
34 The main points about the harmonic numbers which lead to the composition of the soul......Page 86
34*From the intervals of the spheres Plato seeks the intervals of the ratios between the parts of the soul......Page 89
35 How the intervals of the double and triple numbers are filled......Page 90
36 The division of the soul; motion; and time......Page 92
37 The arrangement of the living world through its limbs; the opposite movements of revolutions; and the intersectors of axes and orbits......Page 95
38 Right and left in the cosmos; the movements of the firmament, of the planets, and of the fixed stars; the arrangement of the soul......Page 98
39 The great harmony, within the cosmic being, between the soul and the heavens and between the heavens and the elements, in relation to the higher worlds and the orders of divinities......Page 100
40 Those things which come into being directly from God, and those things which come into being through intermediaries; the words of God in relation to the gods; and the providence of the gods......Page 102
41 Man’s relationship to soul and body......Page 104
42 How the world is composed of mind and necessity......Page 106
43 Natural phenomena are based on the principles of mathematics; concerning the elements and compounds......Page 108
44 More on man: how much regard he gives to the soul, and how much to the body......Page 111
45 On the outward and inward breath, according to Plato and Galen......Page 114
46 On the good health and poor health of the body and the soul......Page 116
The Chapter Divisions of the Timaeus with brief commentaries as given by Marsilio Ficino......Page 120
Notes to the Compendium......Page 184
Soul Numbers......Page 213
Glossary......Page 215
Bibliography......Page 219
Index......Page 220