Celebrate the soul with friends on November 7

When Thomas Moore spoke at Marlboro College on 6 April 2010 about Liberal Arts and Care of the Soul, he told his audience that during the Renaissance, Platonists would meet on Plato’s birthday at Marsilio Ficino's villa to share their thoughts about love and the soul.  At Ficino's Florentine academy:

"The most famous events of the academy are the banquets celebrated on Plato's reputed birthday, November 7, in 1468 and in 1473, and perhaps in other years. The banquet of 1468 provided the setting for Ficino's commentary on Plato's Symposium. The academy also held discussions on philosophical and other subjects on numerous occasions, and it was customary for learned or otherwise distinguished visitors to Florence to attend some of the meetings."

Moore said the Platonic academy is recreated every time friends get together to talk about the soul. Tomorrow offers an opportunity to continue this tradition.