One True Cause
«The book goes beyond the well-studied contexts of Cartesian physics and cosmology to examine the ethical and epistemological implications of occasionalism. And it does so clearly and rigorously, deftly weaving together an impressive range of primary and secondary sources without losing sight of the core conceptual issues.»
Nabeel Hamid, Concordia University, Journal of the History of Philosophy
Occasionalism is the thesis that God alone is the true cause of everything that happens in the world, and created substances are merely "occasional causes." This doctrine was originally developed in medieval Islamic theology, and was widely rejected in the works of Christian authors in medieval Europe. Les mer
philosopher Nicolas Malebranche, who popularized this doctrine.
What led Cartesian thinkers to adopt occasionalism? Since the 1970s has there been a growing body of literature on Malebranche and the movement he engendered. There is also a new and growing body of work on the Cartesian occasionalists before Malebranche-including Arnold Geulincx, Geraud de Cordemoy, and Louis de la Forge. But to date there has not been a systematic, book-length study of the reasoning that led Cartesian thinkers to adopt occasionalism, and the relationship of their arguments
to Descartes' own views.
This book expands on recent scholarship to provide the first comprehensive account of seventeenth century occasionalism. Part I contrasts occasionalism with a theory of divine providence developed by Thomas Aquinas, in response to medieval occasionalists; it shows that Descartes' philosophy is compatible with Aquinas' theory, on which God "concurs" in all the actions of created beings. Part II reconstructs the arguments of Cartesians-such as Cordemoy and La Forge-who used Cartesian physics to
argue for occasionalism. Finally, the book shows how Malebranche's case for occasionalism combines philosophical theology with Cartesian metaphysics and mechanistic science.
Detaljer
- Forlag
- Oxford University Press Inc
- Innbinding
- Innbundet
- Språk
- Engelsk
- ISBN
- 9780190941796
- Utgivelsesår
- 2020
- Format
- 16 x 23 cm
Anmeldelser
«The book goes beyond the well-studied contexts of Cartesian physics and cosmology to examine the ethical and epistemological implications of occasionalism. And it does so clearly and rigorously, deftly weaving together an impressive range of primary and secondary sources without losing sight of the core conceptual issues.»
Nabeel Hamid, Concordia University, Journal of the History of Philosophy
«This fine book will be the reference point for all future work done on occasionalism and indeed on causation generallyin the early modern period.»
Thomas M. Lennon, Professor Emeritus of Philosophy, Western University, Canada
«In One True Cause, Andrew Platt offers a textually informed and philosophically sophisticated treatment of the issue of occasionalism in early modern Cartesianism that takes into account the relevant scholastic background. Particularly noteworthy here are the extended arguments against occasionalist readings of Descartes and his follower Clauberg and the consistent emphasis on the differences in both the forms of and theoretical motives for Cartesian occasionalism in the work of Guelincx, La Forge, Cordemoy and Malebranche.»
Tad M. Schmaltz, Professor and Department Chair of Philosophy, University of Michigan