Searching for the Routes of Philosophy: Marsilio Ficino on Heraclitus

Main Article Content

Georgios Steiris

Abstract

Marsilio Ficino is well known for his efforts to expand the philosophical canon of his time. He exhibited great interest in Platonism and Neoplatonism, but also endeavoured to recover understudied philosophical traditions of the ancient world. In his Theologia platonica de immortalitate animorum, he commented on the Presocratics. Ficino thought of the Presocratics as authorities and possessors of undisputed wisdom. This article seeks to explore the way in which Ficino treated the philosophy of Heraclitus in the Theologia platonica in order to formulate his own philosophical ideas.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Article Details

How to Cite
Steiris, G. (2019). Searching for the Routes of Philosophy: Marsilio Ficino on Heraclitus. Mediterranea, International Journal on the Transfer of Knowledge, 4, 57–74. https://doi.org/10.21071/mijtk.v4i0.11331
Section
Articles
Author Biography

Georgios Steiris, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens

I am currently Associate Professor of Medieval and Renaissance Philosophy at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. I hold a doctorate in Philosophy from the University of Athens’ Philosophy Department. I have also taught at the University of Peloponnese and the Hellenic Open University. I have been a Visiting Professor at Boğaziçi University Istanbul and Jyvaskyla University. I have been elected Secretary General of the Greek Philosophical Society (2015-2016). In 2015 I was awarded the Al-Farabi Kazakh National University Gold Medal for my work on Arabic philosophy.

References

Aristoteles, De anima, ed. William David Ross, Clarendon Press, Oxford 1961 (repr. 1967).

— Du ciel, ed. Paul Moraux, Les Belles Lettres, Paris 1965 (Collection des universités de France).

— Ethica Nicomachea, ed. Ingram Bywater, Clarendon Press, Oxford 1894 (repr. 1962).

— Metaphysics, 2 vols., Clarendon Press, Oxford 1924 (repr. 1970 [of 1953 corr. edn.]).

— Physics Book VIII, ed. Daniel W. Graham, Clarendon Press, Oxford 1999.

M. Tullius Cicero, De finibus bonorum et malorum libri quinque, ed. Leighton D. Reynolds, Clarendon Press, Oxford 1998 (Scriptorum classicorum bibliotheca Oxoniensis).

Clément d’Alexandrie, Le pédagogue, ed. Harl, Marguerite, Marrou, Henri-Irénée, Matray, Chantai and Mondésert, Claude (eds.), 3 vols., Éditions du Cerf, Paris 1960–1970 (Sources chrétiennes, 70, 108, 158).

Pseudo-Dionysius Areopagita, De divinis nominibus, ed. Beate Regina Suchla, de Gruyter, Berlin 1990 (Patristische Texte und Studien 33).

Heraclitus, Fragments. A Text and Translation with a Commentary, ed. Thomas M. Robinson, University of Toronto Press, Toronto 1991.

Hermias Alexandrinus, In Platonis Phaedrum Scholia, ed. Carlo M. Lucarini, Claudio Moreschini, de Gruyter, Berlin: 2012 (Bibliotheca scriptorum Graecorum et Romanorum Teubneriana, 2010).

Marsilius Ficinus, Liber de sole et lumine, Antonio di Bartolommeo Miscomini, Florence 1493.

— Platonic Theology, ed. James Hankins and trans. Michael J. B. Allen, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA 2001.

— Three Books on Life, I.5, ed. Carol V. Kaske, John R. Clark, Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, Tempe, AZ 1998 (Medieval and Renaissance Texts and Studies, 57).

Plato, Cratylus, in Platonis opera, ed. John Burnet, vol. I, Clarendon Press, Oxford 1900 (repr. 1967).

— Thaetetus, in Platonis opera, ed. John Burnet, vol. I, Clarendon Press, Oxford 1900 (repr. 1967).

Plutarchus, De E apud Delphos, in Plutarchi moralia, ed. Wilhelm Sieveking, vol. III, Teubner, Leipzig 1929 (repr. 1972).

Proclus Diadochus, In Platonis Cratylum commentaria, ed. Giorgio Pasquali, Teubner, Leipzig 1908.

Thomas de Aquino Opera omnia iussu impensaque Leonis XIII P. M. edita, vol. IV–V: Pars prima Summae theologiae, ex Typographia Polyglotta S. C. de Propaganda Fide, Romae, 1888–1889.

— In duodecim libros Metaphysicorum Aristotelis expositio, ed. Marie-Raymond Cathala, Raimondo. M. Spiazzi, Marietti, Torino, 19712.

Modern Authors (after 1789)

Allen, Michael J. B., « Two commentaries on the Phaedrus: Ficino’s indebtedness to Hermias», Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes, 43 (1980), p. 110–129.

— « The Soul as Rhapsode: Marsilio Ficino’s Interpretation of Plato’s Ion », in John W. O’Malley, Thomas M. Izbicki, Gerald Christianson (eds.), Humanity and Divinity in Renaissance and Reformation: Essays in Honor of Charles Trinkaus, Brill, Leiden 1993 (Studies in the History of Christian Thought, 51), p. 125–148.

— « Pythagoras in the Early Renaissance », in Carl A. Huffman (ed.), A History of Pythagoreanism, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2014, p. 435–453.

Barnes, Jonathan, The Presocratic Philosophers, Routledge, London–New York 1982.

Blankert, Albert, « Heraclitus en Democritus bij Marsilio Ficino », Simiolus: Netherlands Quarterly for the History of Art, 1/3 (1966–1967), p. 128–135.

Betegh, Gabor, « On the Physical Aspect of Heraclitus’ Psychology », Phronesis, 52 (2007), p. 3–32.

Calvert, Brian, « Forms and Flux in Plato’s Cratylus », Phronesis, 15 (1970), p. 26–47.

Celenza, Christopher, Piety and Pythagoras in Renaissance Florence: The Symbolum Nesianum, Brill, Leiden 2001 (Studies in the history of Christian thought, 101).

Christidis, Theodoros, Demetrius Athanassakis, « On Heraclitus’ Concept of λόγοϛ », Philosophical Inquiry, 32 (2010), p. 61–71.

Diels, Hermann, Walther Kranz (eds.), Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker griechisch und deutsch, Weidmannsche Buchhandlung, Berlin 1903.

Drozdek, Adam, Greek Philosophers as Theologians: The Divine Arche, Ashgate, Aldershot 2007.

English, Robert B., « Heraclitus and the Soul », Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association, 44 (1913), p. 163–184.

Finkelberg, Aryeh, Heraclitus and Thales’ Conceptual Scheme: A Historical Study, Brill, Leiden–Boston 2017 (Jerusalem Studies in Religion and Culture, 23).

Fronterotta, Francesco, « Heraclitus, the Becoming and the Platonic-Aristotelian Doxography », Archai: Revista de Estudos Sobre as Origens Do Pensamento Ocidental, 15 (2015), p. 117–128.

Garin, Eugenio, « The Philosopher and the Magus », in Eugenio Garin (ed.), Renaissance Characters, trans. Lydia G. Cochrane, University of Chicago Press, Chicago 1991, p. 123–153.

Graham, Daniel W., « Heraclitus: Flux, Order, and Knowledge », in PATRICIA CURD, DANIEL W. GRAHAM (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Presocratic Philosophy, Oxford University Press, New York 2008, p. 169–188.

Graham, Daniel W., « Heraclitus », The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Summer 2011 Edition), E. N. Zalta (ed.), URL = <http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/sum2011

/entries/heraclitus/> (Accessed October 2018).

Hankins, James, « ‘Major Melancholy’: Ficino and the Physiological Cause of Atheism », Rinascimento, 47 (2007), p. 3–23.

Hussey, Edward, « Heraclitus », in Anthony A. Long (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Early Greek Philosophy, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1999 (Cambridge Companions to Philosophy), p. 93–94.

Idel, Moshe, « Prisca Theologia in Marsilio Ficino and some Jewish Treatments », in Michael J. B. Allen, Valery Rees, Martin Davies (eds.), Marsilio Ficino: His Theology, His Philosophy, His Legacy, Brill, Leiden–Boston–Köln 2002 (Brill’s studies in intellectual history, 108), P. 137–158.

Johnstone, Mark, « On ‘Logos’ in Heraclitus », in Brad Inwood (ed.), Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy, vol. XLVII, Oxford University Press, Oxford 2014, p. 1–29.

Kahn, Charles H., The Art and Though of Heraclitus, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1981.

Kirk, Geoffrey S., Heraclitus: The Cosmic Fragments, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press 1954.

Kirk, Geoffrey S., John E. Raven, Malcom Schofield, The Presocratic Philosophers, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1995.

Kleinbub, Christian K., Vision and the Visionary in Raphael,: Penn State Press, University Park, PA 2011.

Kristeller, Paul O., Marsilio Ficino and His Work after Five Hundred Years, Florence: Leo S. Olschki, 1987 (Istituto nazionale di studi sul Rinascimento. Quaderni di Rinascimento, 7).

Lepage, John L., The Revival of Antique Philosophy in the Renaissance, Palgrave Macmillan, New York 2012.

Long, Herbert Strainge (ed.), Diogenis Laertii vitae philosophorum, 2 vols, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1964 (repr. 1966), 1:1–246; 2:247–565.

Macdonald, Paul S., History of the Concept of Mind, vol. I: Speculations About Soul, Mind and Spirit from Homer to Hume, Routledge, Abington 2017.

Mackenzie, Mary M., « Heraclitus and the Art of Paradox », in JULIA ANNAS (ed.), Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy, vol. VI, Oxford University Press, Oxford 1988, p. 1–37.

Mansfeld, Jaap, « On Two Fragments of Heraclitus in Clement of Alexandria », Mnemosyne, 37 (1984), p. 447–451.

McKirahan, Richard D., Philosophy Before Socrates: An Introduction with Texts and Commentary, Hackett Publishing, Indianapolis–Cambridge 2011.

Most, Glenn, « What Ancient Quarrel between Philosophy and Poetry? », in Pierre Destrée, Fritz-Gregor Herrmann (eds.), Plato and the Poets, Brill, Leiden 2011 (Mnemosyne. Supplementum, 328), p. 1–20.

Mouraviev, Serge, Héraclite d’Éphèse. La tradition antique et médiévale, vol. IV: De Maxime le Confesseur à Marsile Ficin, Academia Verlag, Sankt Augustin 2003 (Heraclitea. 2: Traditio. A. Témoignages et citations).

Mourelatos, Alexander, The Pre-Socratics: A Collection of Critical Essays, Princeton University Press, Princeton 2014.

Neels, Richard, « Elements and Opposites in Heraclitus », Apeiron, 4 (2018), Retrieved 18 Oct. 2018, from doi:10.1515/apeiron-2017-0029.

Nussbaum, Martha, « Psychê in Heraclitus », Phronesis, 17 (1972), p. 1–16, 153–70.

Polansky, Ronald, Aristotle’s De Anima: A Critical Commentary, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2007.

Robb, Kevin, « Psyche and Logos in the Fragments of Heraclitus », The Monist, 69 (1986), p. 315–351.

Robichaud, Denis J.-J., Plato’s Persona: Marsilio Ficino, Renaissance Humanism, and Platonic Traditions, University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia 2018.

Robinson, Thomas M., « Heraclitus on Soul », The Monist, 69 (1986), p. 305–314.

— « Heraclitus and Logos – again », ΣΧΟΛΗ: Ancient Philosophy and The Classical Tradition, 7 (2013), p. 318–326.

Saudelli, Lucia, « Lux sicca Marsile Ficin exegete d’Héraclite », Accademia, 10 (2008), p. 29–42.

Sheppard, Anne, « The Influence of Hermias on Marsilio Ficino’s Doctrine of Inspiration », Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes, 43 (1980), p. 97–109.

Stamatelos, Giannis, Plotinus and the Presocratics: A Philosophical Study of Presocratic Influences in Plotinus’ Enneads, State University of New York Press, Albany 2012 (SUNY Series in Ancient Greek Philosophy).

Stern, David G., « Heraclitus’ and Wittgenstein’s River Images: Stepping Twice into the Same River », The Monist, 74 (1991), p. 579–604.

Tarán, Leonardo, « Heraclitus: The River Fragments and Their Implications », Elenchos, 20 (1999), p. 9–52.

Walker, Daniel P., « Prisca Theologia e Philosophia Perennis: Due temi del Rinascimento italiano e loro fortuna », in Giovannangiola Tarugi (ed.), Il pensiero italiano di Rinascimento e il tempo nostro. Atti del V Convegno internazionale del Centro di studi umanistici. Montepulciano 8–13 agosto 1968, Leo S. Olschki, Firenze 1970, p. 211–236.

Williams, Bernard, « Cratylus’ theory of names and its refutation », in Malcom Schofield, Martha Nussbaum (eds.), Language and Logos, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 2009, p. 83–93.