An interview with Marsilio Ficino

Word count: 1296

TB: Sig. Ficino thank you for being here today, its a pleasure. Today Id like to cover a bit about your
background, your beliefs, your works, and your relationship with the Medici family, especially Cosimo d
Medici.
Ficino: The pleasure is mine Signora. Im looking forward to the interview.
TB: Sig. Ficino, did you always see yourself becoming a philosopher?
Ficino: No, not always: you see, my father was the personal physician to Cosimo d Medici. It was his
wish that I should study medicine and I did. I never stopped. In truth, I consider myself just as much a
student of medicine and music as I am a student of philosophy and the divine mysteries of theology.
Just as medicine heals the body, music rejuvenates and tempers the spirit, while philosophy and
theology enlighten and purify the soul.
TB: Interesting. I look forward to touching on more of your philosophical ideas and pressing a bit deeper
as we go on. But I wonder, could you tell us a little about your relationship with Cosimo?
Ficino: Of course. Cosimo was a great and generous man. In my youth he welcomed me into his
company of learned scholarsThe Medici Circlewhich consisted of the most brilliant humanist
thinkers: poets, philosophers, artists, musicians, physicians, mathematicians, astronomers and so forth.
He encouraged me to pursue scholarly endeavors, especially the study of Platos works. Without
Cosimos financial support I fear I would have been unable to reinvigorate philosophical thought through
lively debate concerning the soul and its source; fate would have cast my potential, right along with my
name, into oblivion.
TB: Well Im very glad he chose to do so. How did you come to receive the patronage of Cosimo?
Ficino: Theres an interesting story lurking here. It stems from a time very near the beginning of my
relationship with Cosimo as a patron. I remember singing to myselfto the cosmos, in facta hymn by
the great Orpheus, titled ritu Orphico. This hymn always helps to relax my spirit. The last line of the
hymn goes something like: Hear my prayer, Cosme, grant a quiet life to a reverent young man. As I
was singing, news arrived of Cosimos generous proposal that he act as my patron. The work to be
commission was the translation of the hymns of Orpheus into Latin! I believe that, by some instinct of
divine inspiration, Cosimo heard my thoughts and thus granted me the very things for which my prayer
was asking.
TB: That is an interesting story indeed! That must have been a welcomed surprise.
Ficino: Through the rational souls capacity for philosophical contemplation, the intellect has the
capacity for attaining the knowledge necessary for understanding the true being of reality with its five
stages: bodily matter, qualitative nature, the soul, the angel, and God. The soul occupies the mid-point
between the mortal and the immortal: binding all things togetherincluding naturewhile uniting itself
to the angel and to God. The soul links everything to everything else. Thus, I was greatly pleased, but
not overly surprised, by the coinciding of my prayers with Cosimos magnanimous intentions. This is,
after all, the deeper reality to which great poets such as Orpheus point, and which their poetry allows
the mind-soul to access through the poems significancewhich is so carefully clothed in words.
TB: Well, Im beginning to see why Cosimo and so many others have taken such deep interest in your
thought. Still, it seems youre best known for your translation of Platos complete works from the
Greek to Latin. Would you agree?
Ficino: Indeedwriters and scholars, when invoking my name, very frequently follow by noting my
success in this particular taska task which took over five years to complete. In additional to the
translation and interpretation of classical works into Latin, I wrote many original works having to do with
philosophyespecially theology and metaphysicsas well as aesthetics and medicine. Of my original
works, the most often mentioned and perhaps most influential is most likely from 1469, titled De
Amore. This was a kind of commentary on Platos Symposium. Its central contribution to human thought
has partly to do with its treatment of a special type of love, a spiritual love, which I call Platonic love.
On top of this, De Amore constituted a new genre of literature, the love treatise, which had a
formative influence upon Italian and French literature during the Renaissance and beyond, for several
centuries to come.
TB: And the translation of Platos complete works was also commissioned by Cosimo? Can you tell us
about your housing during this time and what became of it?
Ficino: Correct. In 1463 the illustrious Cosimo furnished a villa in Carregi for my studies. This villa
became the Platonic Academy. The Academy was very important, acting as an intellectual and
spiritual hub for humanist though for many decades. The Academy was the site of countless important
lectures, stimulating courses, and fruitful dialogues in which many of the greatest European minds of
the time participated. From this flurry of intellectual activity came many letters and other wonderful
documents whose influence spread throughout Europe.
TB: That sounds like quite a large impact. It also sounds like quite a large financial commitment by your
patron. Cosimo must have seen something of profound importance in your Platonist-inspired thought.
Why do you suppose Cosimo was so taken with your philosophical views?
Ficino: Before I answer your question Id first like to address your comment describing my thought as
Platonist-inspired.
TB: Please do.
Ficino: It is true: the wisdom of Plato, as well as Neoplotinus, played a pivotal role in the formation of
my philosophy. The degree to which they influenced my lifes work can hardly be overstated. However,
for most of my life I aimed to synthesize a myriad of wisdom-traditions from many of Earths great
civilizations. This was my lifes task and chief ambition which included not only reconciliation of the
philosophy and wisdom of pagan traditions with that of the Christian tradition, but also included the
wisdom of the ancient Eastern religions as well as esoteric paths to wisdom such as Astrology.
TB: I see, and do you think this relates to Cosimos attraction to your, shall we say, more universal
and/or holistic, philosophical project?
Ficino: What do you think?
TB: It seems to me that during the Renaissance, European culture was embarking on a major
transformation. This transformation was saturated with tensions, as is the case with periods of cultural
crisis. One major tension had to do with human self-understanding, free will, and action. These aspects
of western life were caught in a tension: moving out of an age characterized by the wills subjection to
Divine Law and into an age of Enlightenment which would seed ever more priority and authority away
from the former in favor of human reason. This tension was essentially the conflict between opposing
ideas, and European cultures attempt to straddle the change bought about by this conflict of opposites.
Perhaps Cosimo saw your philosophy as a powerful force worthy of taking on such a taska philosophy
dedicated to reconciling seemingly opposed systems of ideas. Perhaps he saw in this revival of the past
and synthesis with the present, the potential for assisting human civilization in bringing about a new,
more fully human, more enlightened future.
Ficino: Youve painted a flattering picture of me and Cosimo in your answer!
TB: I suppose I have!
Ficino: Im not complaining, of course.
TB: Good, I prefer to avoid conflict, let us end this interview on a friendly, pleasant note free of tensions.
Thank you Sig. Ficino for the thought-provoking discussion.
Ficino: Thinking is the best way to thank a philosopher, so thank you Signora!