Platonic Theology, Volume 6: Books XVII-XVIII (I Tatti Renaissance Library) [Hardcover]

Marsilio Ficino (Author), James Hankins (Editor), Michael J. B. Allen (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 30, 2006 | Series: I Tatti Renaissance Library (Book 23)

The Platonic Theology is a visionary work and the philosophical masterpiece of Marsilio Ficino (1433-1499), the Florentine scholar-philosopher-magus who was largely responsible for the Renaissance revival of Plato. A student of the Neoplatonic schools of Plotinus and Proclus, he was committed to reconciling Platonism with Christianity, in the hope that such a reconciliation would initiate a spiritual revival and return of the golden age. His Platonic evangelizing was eminently successful and widely influential, and his Platonic Theology, translated into English for the first time in this edition, is one of the keys to understanding the art, thought, culture, and spirituality of the Renaissance.

This sixth and final volume of the I Tatti Renaissance Library edition includes comprehensive indexes to the whole work.

(20061005)

Editorial Reviews

Review

The I Tatti project represents a major contribution to Renaissance studies, as it becomes increasingly necessary to produce reliable editions and translations of works of the Italian Renaissance written in Latin. By providing an accurate text and a readable translation in an elegant yet affordable format, this [edition] will benefit both scholars and students, who might not be familiar with Ficino's sometimes difficult and elliptical Latin. It will interest not only those who are working on Ficino and Italian humanism but also anyone who is concerned with the history of Platonism and Neoplatonism. No doubt this edition will stimulate further studies on Ficino's Platonic Theology, which will in turn enlighten significant aspects of Ficino's thought, identify new sources and provide a comprehensive exegesis of this fundamental text.
--Maude Vanhaelen (Bryn Mawr Classical Review 20050713)

Ficino set out to show that the ancient Neoplatonic philosophy embodied a "gentile theological tradition," one that complemented the Mosaic revelation to the Jews and prepared its devotees for the final truths of Christianity. Ficino worked in full knowledge of the internal complications of Neoplatonism. He wrote and argued in styles that ranged from the logical and synthetic to the poetic and evocative, as he struggled to find ways to prove that the universe was orderly and governed by a Creator and to lay out the place within it of the immortal human soul.
--Anthony T. Grafton (New York Review of Books )

Allen's translation of Ficino's work is a crucial contribution to Renaissance studies.
--Daniel B. Gallagher (Aestimatio )

About the Author

Michael J. B. Allen is Distinguished Professor of English, University of California, Los Angeles.

James Hankins is Professor of History, Harvard University. He is the General Editor of the I Tatti Renaissance Library.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 432 pages
• Publisher: Harvard University Press (June 30, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0674019865
• ISBN-13: 978-0674019867
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #541,806 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)