Pico's Ascent

Bruce MacLennan

The following is a summary of my understanding of Pico della Mirandola's "Ascent to the Divine" from his Oration on the Dignity of Man (chs. 8-20). Corrections, comments and questions are of course welcome.

There are three primary stages, the first two being divided into two substages. The third stage is the goal, whereas the preceding four stages are practices leading to it:

I. Purification

A. Moral Philosophy:

Control of feelings and appetites (i.e. the irrational soul). Cleanses the soul's eyes (in the western waters).

B. Dialectic:

Banishes ignorance and governs the rational soul. Aligns keen vision of soul in right way (toward the Pole Star).

II. Contemplation

A. Natural Philosophy:

Illumination, by seeing the Creator in creation and creation in the Creator. Strengthens the soul's eyes on the lesser light of natural philosophy (the light of dawn).

B. Theology:

Perfection of soul through the light of theology (which means the "Word of God" as well as knowledge of divinity). Practices of piety and prayer. The soul's eyes endure the splendor of the noonday sun.

III. Union

God and the lover are One. "We are He Himself who made us."

Jacob's Ladder

Pico compares philosophers with the angels ascending and descending Jacob's Ladder (ch. 12):

Descent:

We descend into the realm of division and strife, which are necessary for the existence of our world of physical things. The dismembering of Osiris.

Ascent:

We ascend through the power of Love toward ever greater unity and peace. The reunification of Osiris by Apollo.

The necessity of redescending into the world of multiplicity is also mentioned by Plotinus.