Ito K
Nihon Ishigaku Zasshi. 1995 Mar;41(1):29-40.
Marsilio Ficino, the most important philosopher of the Italian Renaissance, wrote a medical book "De vita". Its first part deals with the health of those who devote themselves to literary studies. On the basis of Galenian humoralism, Ficino argues that learned people or scholars are prone to phlegm and black bile. The excesses of them bring sickness, and particularly the excesses of black bile make scholars melancholic. Therefore they must be careful about the balance of humors. Ficino states that the insanity brought by black bile is 'divine madness', necessary to genial works. He finds the elements, which make 'sacred madness' different in quality from general madness, under the influence of the celestial world. We can find the truth by the guidance of Saturn. Black bile participates in the Saturnian quality: cold and dry, and transmits the characteristic of Saturn to us. We can understand the 'divine things' only by the Saturnian melancholy. Therefore the influence of planets is very important for the activity of scholars. Through "De vita", astrological medicine - which attributes the causes of disease to the celestial world - had a great influence on Renaissance thought, and made an important contribution to the theoretical explanation of epidemic diseases like pestilence and sphilis. Ficino's theory certified the nobility and divinity of the duties of intellectuals, and was the main theoretical source of the Renaissance characteristic view of genius.
马尔西利奥·菲奇诺是意大利文艺复兴时期最重要的哲学家，他写了一本医学著作《论生命》。其第一部分论述了投身文学研究之人的健康状况。基于盖伦的体液学说，菲奇诺认为有学问的人或学者容易产生痰湿和黑胆汁。这些体液过多会引发疾病，尤其是黑胆汁过多会使学者忧郁。因此，他们必须注意体液的平衡。菲奇诺指出，由黑胆汁引发的精神错乱是“神圣的疯狂”，是创作优秀作品所必需的。在天体世界的影响下，他找到了使“神圣的疯狂”在性质上有别于一般疯狂的因素。我们可以在土星的指引下找到真理。黑胆汁具有土星的特质：寒冷和干燥，并将土星的特性传递给我们。只有通过土星式的忧郁，我们才能理解“神圣的事物”。因此，行星的影响对学者的活动非常重要。通过《论生命》，将疾病成因归因于天体世界的占星医学对文艺复兴思想产生了重大影响，并为诸如瘟疫和梅毒等流行病的理论解释做出了重要贡献。菲奇诺的理论证明了知识分子职责的高贵和神圣，是文艺复兴时期独特天才观的主要理论来源。
