•Platonism underwent a revival in the Renaissance, as part
of a general revival of interest in Classical antiquity. Interest in Platonism
was especially strong in Florence under the Medici.
•The Platonic Academy (also known as the Florentine
Academy) was a 15th-century discussion group in Florence. It was founded after
Gemistus Pletho reintroduced Plato's thoughts to Western Europe during the 1438
- 1439 Council of Florence. It was sponsored by Cosimo de' Medici, led by
Marsilio Ficino and supported by Medici until death of Lorenzo Medici.
•Neoplatonism in the Renaissance combined the ideas
of Christianity and a new awareness of the writings of Plato.
•At the summit of existence stands the One or the Good, as
the source of all things. It generates an infinite store of ideas. The One
constitutes bodies who contain the world-soul. Soul, being chained to matter,
longs to escape from the bondage of the body and return to its original
source.In virtue and philosophical thought it has the power to elevate itself
to a state of ecstasy, where it can behold, or ascend to, that one good primary
Being whom reason cannot know. To attain this union with the Good, or God, is
the true function of human beings.
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