"Iamblichus had less confidence in philosophy" -Copenhaver [I don't see Pico presenting Iamblichus as anti-philosophy but pro, if occult]
Hugh Trevor-Roper "the pseudo-Dionysius was a Christian Platonist of the sixth century who plagiarized Proclus"
Farmer notes that Pico was as attentive and penetrating a reader as those who later deconstructed Dionysius due to Proclan influence.
Farmer: Pico's identification of the sefirot with the henads was not thus simply the wild fantasy of a Renaissance syncretist.
Farmer: Similarly, when Pico suggested that Proclus's "guardians" (a henadic order) and Pseudo-Dionysius's "powers"
Dionysius made clever use of Platonic terminology for his own purposes, a lesson not lost on Aquinas.This is Pico's metaphysical inheritance
Dionysius was philosophizing about problem of Biblical angel, mitigating dangers of magic+Platonism, Pico follows this trend of careful read
does Pico imply theurgy w/ "higher part of mind/soul convenes w/ angel" or is this simply the kind of angelic presence that is PD's problem?
if all we need theurgy for is mystical ascent,why use term? if special category between magic+mysticism,problem of Pico's magic's uniqueness
Did Pico turn away from Plotinus in later works, or remain faithful to what he valued in Plotinus, although from his post-Dionysian Ar. pov?
In Pico's Plotinus conclusions we don't see a development of theory of magic mentioned in ration, but rather metaphysics of Int. cons.w/Comm
@taramayastales Pico was annoyed at the concept of astrological influence in general;he wanted to be illuminated by angels not planets/stars
@casuist All I know about Pico's love life is he got some retainers killed in a battle trying to flee after kidnapping a Medici's wife.
Pico was not a Renaissance Magus, and his contribution to Renaissance Magic Theory was limited--his criticisms of magic just as important?
due to the popularity of mistaken theurgic/magical scholarly interpretations of Pico in the late 20th century, Pico widely considered magus.
Heptaplus gives us plenty of information about the kind of writing Pico was planning on doing when he collected all those Proclan sentences.
Pico's work on Proclus in the 900 Conclusions (most cited/used thinker) must be understood as ground for Proclan method/interp in Heptaplus.
in Commento Pico experiments with a new philosophical approach to "Angelic Mind" but didn't intend to exposit a new theological doctrine.
Allen in Dougherty 93-94 Pico specifically cites Proclus, Hermias,+Syrianus (Proclus's teacher), along w/the Areopagite http://bit.ly/hmEfnB
Edelheit 161 We know from Marinus' Vita Procli XII that Proclus studied De anima, as preparation for Phaedo,in a private seminar w/Damascius
Neoplatonic metaphysics, understood as a doctrine of the One, established itself as a critique of the Aristotelian metaphysics of spirit.
# Pico adopts many of Ficino's opinions.Yet there is one significant difference, rooted in Pico's Aristotelian background http://bit.ly/hNPd1A
We should expect Pico to be "at play" with theurgy in the 900 theses just as he is tentative, probable + problematical about the rest of it.
Better historians emphasize Pico's subtlety, difficulty, ambiguity and play. Theurgic interpretations don't take seriously PLAY with theurgy
Savonarola... opposed an outright demonization to Pico's subtle interplay between reform and rejection. http://bit.ly/ezNf8w
Pico emphasized the carelessness of astrologers towards their texts as an example of their general ignorance. http://bit.ly/hr9QtW
Pico's conclusions don't tell us what he believed from Proclus, but rather give us information about what parts from Proclus interested him.
best summaries of Pico's philosophy are Craig in Routledge, Copenhaver in SEP http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/pico-della-mirandola/
One the one hand undeniably humanists...On the other hand, both Pico and Ficino were also connected with scholasticism. http://bit.ly/gylwHg
It is not my intention to do a Craven-style scolding or Copenhaverian de-Kanting of Pico scholars, I want to look at Pico's angel directly.
Garber/ Ayres "Yates puts too much emphasis on the exotic side of Renaissance Platonism,"
Hadot has drawn attention to the subtle insights of profound ancient philosophers such as Proclus, ... http://bit.ly/fll9JN
In his view Pico's veiled discourse, far from being the contrivance that struck Wind as unnecessarily obscure... http://bit.ly/fll9JN
Cambridge:Proclus' point in De sacrificio was that magic had a metaphysical and cosmological basis in various interactions between heavenly
I don't think Pico was so much concerned with the "rediscovery" part of the pagan mysteries he wrote about; what excites him is confirmation
to rediscover the 'secret mysteries' of pagan theology using Neoplatonic metaphysics as a key
Pico's harmony/concord of Plato+Aristotle can't be reduced to simple siding with or against Ficino on Plotinus vs. Proclus, but this matters
criticized the Neoplatonists for misreading the Sophist, in which—according to Pico—Plato actually maintained that one and being were equal
Moshe Idel on Pico's version of Jacob's Ladder, possible Jewish influence via Alemanno or Bahya http://bit.ly/gb2zVf
Pico's dependence on and extreme respect for Plotinus... "Pythagoreanized" Plotinus. http://bit.ly/e7Tp2k
Pico's reception of Proclus is complex. As with Aquinas, he applies certain philosophical principles (all in all), criticizes others (B/U).
Pico della Mirandola seized the general thought of Proclus on this point+applied it specially to philosophical theology http://bit.ly/hWB0ak
Debus: Proclus' concept of mathematical knowledge is drived directly from the intermediate place of mathematics in ... http://bit.ly/hyEhJp
Catana 124 Hereby Pico probably means, like Proclus, that the hypostasis Mind indirectly contains being http://bit.ly/ik7SHZ
Grafton: Pico neatly transformed Proclus' defense of ethically unacceptable behavior into a defense of grammatically unacceptable language.
Farmer: in Pico's thought—as in Proclus'—consistency+detail with which its implications are developed in the most disparate areas of thought
Kristeller: Proclus states, again in accordance with Plotinus, that
... in the intelligible world all things are in all things, that is, that each idea represents all others in its own particular way
C.Black: In mapping the lines of thought which led to Pico's position in the Heptaplus, we should start with Proposition 103 of Proclus's ET
"All things are in all things, but properly in each"
Edelheit 347 Pico's familiarity with Proclus is beyond dispute.Among the theses taken from other authors,the largest number are from Proclus
1676 edition of H.C. Agrippa, "The Vanity of Arts and Sciences" http://www.archive.org/details/vanityartsandsc00unkngoog
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/agrippa-nettesheim/
http://esotericarchives.com/kircher/cabala.htm
Pico selected sentences for his 900 Conclusions that he thought would be useful for discussion, wasn't trying to replace/alter faith w/them.
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