A Commentary which Was Never Written: Marsilio Ficino’s on Plato’s Phaedo

• In Event: Ficino II: Ficino’s Methods of Composition

Abstract

This paper will explore Ficino’s engagement with Plato’s Phaedo, devoted to the topic of the immortality of the soul, which was probably the main source for Ficino’s claim that our individual self never dies. For this reason, we might have expected Ficino to write a full commentary on this dialogue; however, he produced just a short Epitome (5 pages in the printed edition). The reason for this, he says, was that the arguments of the Phaedo were included and extensively commented on in his magnum opus, the Platonic Theology, published in 1482. I shall analyze the role of his In Phaedonem Epitome in relationship to both the Platonic Theology and his commentary notes on Plotinus’s Enneads IV.7, which is heavily inspired by the Phaedo. Most importantly, I shall try to identify the philosophical and exegetical relevance of the Epitome in itself and its specific role in Ficino’s literary output.

Author

• Anna Corrias, University College London