Evermore Shall Be So电子书

Evermore Shall Be So

FICINO ON PLATO’S PARMENIDES

Dedication to Niccolò Valori

Chapter 1:

Setting the scene for the dialogue

Chapter 2: How the whole of being is one, but the One Itself is above being

Chapter 3: All multiplicity partakes of unity

Chapter 4: The existence and nature of Ideas

Chapter 5: In what respects Ideas differ among themselves and in what respects they agree

Chapter 6: For what there are Ideas, and for what there are no Ideas: there are as many Ideas as there are rational souls

Chapter 7: There is no Idea for matter

Chapter 8: There are no Ideas for individual items

Chapter 9: There are no Ideas for parts

Chapter 10: How there are Ideas for the accidental

Chapter 11: There are no Ideas for skills

Chapter 12: There are Ideas for only the speculative branches of knowledge

Chapter 13: There are no Ideas for evils

Chapter 14: There are no Ideas for vile things

Chapter 15: Even those things which are not expressed through Ideas are related to providence and to a divine cause

Chapter 16: Parmenides corrects or modifies the replies of Socrates, but does not destroy them

Chapter 17:

How the things of our world partake of Ideas, being the images of Ideas, without their having any identical or common cause

Chapter 18:

An Idea is not partaken of in a physical way so that neither the whole nor any part of it is received

Chapter 19:

Ideal largeness, ideal equality, and ideal smallness are not partaken of by any nature divisible into parts

Chapter 20:

Neither by nature nor by circumstance do Ideas meet with material things

Chapter 21:

We should not suppose that every assemblage of multifarious items suggests that there is a single Idea for those items

Chapter 22:

From types which are created by the soul we must rise to types which are naturally present in the soul, and then rise from those to types which are divine

Chapter 23:

The first types of creation, which are also the principal subjects of the intellect, are prior to the intelligences

Chapter 24:

Ideas are intelligible things rather than intelligences, and these intelligible things are prior to intelligences

Chapter 25:

The quality of an Idea somehow remains one throughout an entire sequence, while the power of an Idea varies

Chapter 26:

Ideas are not simple notions but natural types which possess model power and effective power

Chapter 27:

Natural forms are rightly said to be similar to Ideas, but Ideas must not be described as similar to natural forms

Chapter 28:

Contrary to the opinion of the Stoics and the Aristotelians, Ideas and all things divine are separate from nature and have a power that can be imparted to everything

Chapter 29:

The ways in which Ideas cannot be known by us, and the ways in which they can be known

Chapter 30:

The ways in which Ideas are not related, or may be related, to the things of our world, and vice versa. Also concerning lordship and service, and relationships in the realm of Ideas

Chapter 31:

How pure knowledge relates to pure truth, while human knowledge relates to human truth. How Ideas may be unknown or known

Chapter 32:

Concerning the way of divine consideration and providence

Chapter 33:

On divine lordship and consciousness; and on the six orders of Ideas or forms

Chapter 34:

If there be no Ideas in the presence of God and no ideal patterns within us, then dialectic will perish, and so will all philosophy. There will be no proof, definition, division, or explanation

Chapter 35:

On the practice of dialectic through the intellectual forms and with the intelligible types as the aim

Chapter 36:

The rules of dialectic which pre-suppose being or non-being, and the number of ways in which non-being is described

Chapter 37:

The subsequent discussion is said to be difficult, because it is not only logical but also theological

Chapter 38:

On the hypotheses of Parmenides; and on the One and the Good, which, according to the words of Plato, is higher than being and higher than intellect

Chapter 39:

Next, how Plato proceeds to the First. Its name. The Idea of the Good

Chapter 40:

Next, Plato’s two paths to the First; and two names of the First

Chapter 41:

Some Platonic discussions follow which show that the One is the beginning of all things, and that the One Itself, the Good, is above being. The first discussion

Chapter 42:

The second discussion on the same subject

Chapter 43:

The third discussion on the same subject. Also on the simplicity of the first and the last

Chapter 44:

The fourth discussion on the same subject; and on the contemplation of the Good

Chapter 45:

The fifth discussion on the same subject; and on the naming of the First

Chapter 46:

The sixth discussion on the same subject; and what is chosen is not simply being, but well-being and the Good

Chapter 47:

The seventh discussion on the same subject; and how the cause of being differs from the cause of the Good

Chapter 48:

The first principle of the universe is the simple One Itself, the first in every rank, and most truly One. On the sun, on nature, on intellect

Chapter 49:

The first principle of creation is unity and goodness, above intellect, life, and essence

Chapter 50:

The unity above essence; the unities within essences; the gods; the general aim of Parmenides in his hypotheses

Chapter 51:

Plutarch’s analysis of the hypotheses of Parmenides

Chapter 52:

The meaning of the negations and of the affirmations within the hypotheses. Which ones are dealt with and in which order

Chapter 53:

The aim, the truth, and the arrangement of the first hypothesis

Chapter 54:

When the characteristics of beings are negated with respect to the One, this indicates that the One surpasses and creates all these

Chapter 55:

On the one being. On the simple One Itself. On the aim of Parmenides both here and in his verses. The aim and conclusion of his negations

Chapter 56:

On the universal being and its properties; and why these are negated with respect to the First. Which multiplicity is negated, and why it is negated

Chapter 57:

Through the negation of multiplicity, parts and totality are negated with respect to the One: number is prior to essence, and all multiplicity partakes of unity. The first essence, life, and mind are identical

Chapter 58:

An opinion affirming the abstracts of abstracts with respect to God. Again, negations and relative affirmations about God are safer

Chapter 59:

If the One has no parts, it follows that it has no beginning, no end, no middle

Chapter 60:

In what way the One Itself is called the limitless and the limit of all

Chapter 61:

How shape is negated with respect to the One, as well as straight lines and circular lines

Chapter 62:

The One Itself is nowhere, because it is neither within itself nor within something else. How discrete things are said to exist of themselves or to be produced from themselves

Chapter 63:

How the One is said to neither move nor rest; and how movement and rest are in everything except the First

Chapter 64:

The One moves neither in a circle nor in a straight line

Chapter 65:

How stillness is negated with respect to the One

Chapter 66:

The five kinds of being; the three levels of negations; the ten predicates negated; a few words on the same and the different

Chapter 67:

The One is neither different from itself nor the same as the different, but is completely free of all conditions

Chapter 68:

The One is not different from other things

Chapter 69:

The One is not the same as itself

Chapter 70:

The One is neither similar nor dissimilar to itself or to anything

Chapter 71:

The One is neither equal nor unequal to itself or to others

Chapter 72:

Confirmation of the above

Chapter 73:

In relation to itself and to other things, the One acnnot be younger or older or of the same age

Chapter 74:

The One Itself is above eternity and time and movement. It cannot, on any basis, be said to be within time

Chapter 75:

A rule for relatives, with some confirmation of what has gone before

Chapter 76:

Since the One is above time, it transcends the conditions of time and of things temporal

Chapter 77:

Since the One is above time, it transcends the The One Itself does not partake of essence; it is neither essence itself nor being itself, but is far higher

Chapter 78:

How essence, or being, is negated with respect to the One; and why the One cannot be known or named

Chapter 79:

On the unshakeable nature of the first hypothesis. The One is higher than being

Chapter 80:

The aim of the second hypothesis

Chapter 81:

In the one being there is the principle of the One and there is also the principle of being. The whole has parts and infinite multiplicity

Chapter 82:

Within the one being all the numbers are held by means of two and three. The numbers are prior to the development of the one being into many beings

Chapter 83:

How essence, together with the One, is distributed in the intelligible world, and how multiplicity is either limited or unlimited

Chapter 84:

Within the intelligible world the multiplicity of parts is subsumed in a double form of the whole; it has limits and a mean, as well as forms

Chapter 85:

The one being is within itself and within something other than itself

Chapter 86:

The one being is always unmoving, and yet it moves

Chapter 87:

The one being is the same as itself and different from itself. Again, it is the same as other things and different from them

Chapter 88:

The one being is similar to itself and to others; it is also dissimilar to itself and to others

Chapter 89:

How the one being touches and is touched; but it neither touches nor is touched insofar as it belongs to itself and to other things

Chapter 90:

The one being is both equal to itself and unequal to itself; it is also equal to others and unequal to others

Chapter 91:

The one being, in relation to itself and to all else, is numerically the same. It is also both more and less

Chapter 92:

How the one being, in relation both to itself and to everything else, may be described as older and younger and of the same age

Chapter 93:

How older becoming is distinguished from younger becoming, and also how older being is distinguished from younger being. Concluding words on the one being

Chapter 94:

A summary or review of the second hypothesis. On distinguishing the divinities

Chapter 95:

The distinctions made in this summary or review. On the one being; on multiplicity; on limitless number; and on the orders of the divinities

The Third Hypothesis – Chapter 1:

The aim of the hypothesis. How the soul may be called being and also non-being. On movement and time within the soul. On its eternal quality. How it manifests all things through some change in itself

The Third Hypothesis – Chapter 2:

Why the celestial soul moves and makes an orbit around the steadfast mind. How many movements of the soul there are. The number of movements and the stillness within time. Concerning the mean between movements

The Third Hypothesis – Chapter 3:

A summary of the third hypothesis; or concluding words on the One, multiplicity, being, non-being, movement, stillness, moment, time, and oppositeness. The movement towards movement and towards stillness

The Fourth Hypothesis – Chapter 1:

The aim of the fourth hypothesis. The whole before the parts. The whole after the parts. Divine matters. Natural matters. The relation of the parts to the whole

The Fourth Hypothesis – Chapter 2:

On multiplicity and its relation to the One. On the unlimited and on limit. On the elements of beings. On other things that are mutually opposed

The Fifth Hypothesis – Chapter 1:

The aim of the fifth hypothesis. On the One. On things separate from the One. Whether the One is in accord with them. On omniform being. On formless matter

The Fifth Hypothesis – Chapter 2:

Confirmation of the above, and how matter has no formal conditions within itself. Also, where it comes from, how it is formed, and how it moves

The Sixth Hypothesis – Chapter 1:

The aim of the sixth hypothesis. In what way Parmenides is poetical. More on being and non-being

The Sixth Hypothesis – Chapter 2:

How the One, while called non-being, may also in some way be understood as being. How this kind of non-being is recognised. Concerning the soul

The Sixth Hypothesis – Chapter 3:

How the One which is called non-being is the nature of the soul; why it is subject to movement; knowledge concerns this non-being; to it belong change, multiplicity and characteristic features.

The Sixth Hypothesis – Chapter 4:

Around this non-being One stand dissimilarity similarity, inequality, equality, largeness, smallness, and, in some measure, essence. Also concerning the soul

The Sixth Hypothesis – Chapter 5:

Around this non-being One exist being and non-being, movement, change, and annihilation, together with their opposites. More on the soul

The Seventh Hypothesis:

The aim of the seventh hypothesis. Concerning the levels of the One, of being, and of non-being. How all things are negated with respect to the One and with respect to non-being

The Eighth Hypothesis – Chapter 1:

The aim of the eighth hypothesis. If mind is removed and soul remains, soul will be deceptive and will abide in the realm of shadows

The Eighth Hypothesis – Chapter 2:

If you remove the One, all things will cease; they will be shadowy multitudes; the inconceivably infinite will merge with their opposites about the same; and faltering imagination will be ever deceitful

The Ninth Hypothesis:

The aim of the ninth hypothesis

GLOSSARY

to Ficino’s Parmenides Commentary

Translator’s Introductory Notes

GLOSSARY

ALSO FROM SHEPHEARD-WALWYN

The Letters of Marsilio Ficino

Translated from the Latin by members of the Language Department of the School of Economic Science, London

‘With philosophy as its guide the soul gradually comes to comprehend with its intelligence the nature of all things’

ISBN for the set 978-0-85683-199-7 £140

ALSO FROM SHEPHEARD-WALWYN

Marcus Aurelius: The Dialogues Alan Stedall