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Platonic Theology, Volume 3: Books IX-XI (I Tatti Renaissance Library)

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The third of this magnificent six volume set proceeds with the dominant theme of the work, which aims to furnish proofs of the soul's immortality through a systemization of the principal ideas belonging to the Platonic tradition [yet paradoxically the work is also highly syncretic, blending elements of Hermetism, Scripture, Eastern mysticism and Medieval Aristotelianism]. Now the crux of this volume then, for one, is that the soul is prior to matter in the hierarchy of being, making it intrinsically superior to the material order. And further, the soul is enjoined to universal Divine Soul and thus it is indivisible, indestructible and eternal by nature. Moreover, while the soul is enmeshed in matter it is the dominant active agent, the ruler of the body: the soul acts in and outside of matter freely but the soul is never is acted upon by matter. Even when the body is said to adversely affect the soul--it is merely a defect in the soul's will-power not a force native to body. And finally, the soul is equipped to understand the true rational principles [Ideas] and their Forms, by way of discursive reasoning as opposed to carnal sense perception. This, it is hoped, will shed some light on some of the main points Ficino demonstrates in his elaborate thesis affirming the soul's immortality. It is recommended that the entire set be purchased and that it be read in moderation due to the density, complexity and magnitude of philosophical ideas and arguments layered throughout this magnificent work. For more details on the Platonic Theology see the *reviews posted for volumes one, two and five.