Dan Lange
Dr. Peppers-Bates
Paper #1
November 3, 2017
Malebranche: Occasional Causation
Nicolas Malebranche, a French Catholic theologian, was a philosopher who was both highly admired and criticized. His works, which stemmed and expanded upon his mentors St. Augustine and Descartes, attempted to demonstrate and explain the active role God plays in every aspect of the world. Malebranche is best known for his doctrines: Occasionalism - which states that God is the only genuine causal agent in the universe, Vision in God – which states that, just like human action is dependent on God, human thoughts and reasoning are also dependent on His understanding and will, and his Theodicy – which he attempts to explain or justify God’s ways, in reference …show more content…
God is the only cause of motion since God’s action and will are essential to the creation and sustainment of the world and all finite beings, which are dependent on Him. God must conserve or recreate a body in different places and/or in motion, in order to sustain his creations, or else they’d remain at rest from moment to moment. Finite minds and bodies cannot create motion in our own bodies, let alone create, sustain, or cause motion of other bodies. Then, it must be God who produces motion and causes our sensory states on occasion. Therefore, God is the direct sole cause of every phenomenon in the world, and finite beings are secondary or occasional …show more content…
While his theory makes sense, it begs to question if there is free will in an Occasionalistic world? If God is the sole actor of change, and every thought or action we “have/act on” is really his will, then we don’t truly have free will. If every finite being is a hunk of meat that He can do what ever He wills with, and nothing we “do” is of our own thoughts or actions, then no matter what we “do” it is what He wishes. Therefore, should I be held accountable for not finding time to do an assigned reading? Was it God’s will that I get called into work from 9am-5pm, hit traffic coming home, and then am too tired to finished the assignment? Or is it my will that I want to go to Law school, finish Senior Research, have a job that will benefit me, study for the LSAT, and complete my course work, that has caused me to not have enough time to finish an assignment. Yet, I willed myself to open my computer and finish said assignment. I believe I can argue, that it may be a little bit of both. I am not a very religious person, but it isn’t inconceivable that a higher power has willed the capability of success into everyone, and individuals need to use their own will to push themselves to achieve that success. Is it God’s will or mine to succeed? There are close to 8 billion people in the world, all with their own lives, families, past times, goals etc., and a single being interjects His will on every single one of
Dr. Peppers-Bates
Paper #1
November 3, 2017
Malebranche: Occasional Causation
Nicolas Malebranche, a French Catholic theologian, was a philosopher who was both highly admired and criticized. His works, which stemmed and expanded upon his mentors St. Augustine and Descartes, attempted to demonstrate and explain the active role God plays in every aspect of the world. Malebranche is best known for his doctrines: Occasionalism - which states that God is the only genuine causal agent in the universe, Vision in God – which states that, just like human action is dependent on God, human thoughts and reasoning are also dependent on His understanding and will, and his Theodicy – which he attempts to explain or justify God’s ways, in reference …show more content…
God is the only cause of motion since God’s action and will are essential to the creation and sustainment of the world and all finite beings, which are dependent on Him. God must conserve or recreate a body in different places and/or in motion, in order to sustain his creations, or else they’d remain at rest from moment to moment. Finite minds and bodies cannot create motion in our own bodies, let alone create, sustain, or cause motion of other bodies. Then, it must be God who produces motion and causes our sensory states on occasion. Therefore, God is the direct sole cause of every phenomenon in the world, and finite beings are secondary or occasional …show more content…
While his theory makes sense, it begs to question if there is free will in an Occasionalistic world? If God is the sole actor of change, and every thought or action we “have/act on” is really his will, then we don’t truly have free will. If every finite being is a hunk of meat that He can do what ever He wills with, and nothing we “do” is of our own thoughts or actions, then no matter what we “do” it is what He wishes. Therefore, should I be held accountable for not finding time to do an assigned reading? Was it God’s will that I get called into work from 9am-5pm, hit traffic coming home, and then am too tired to finished the assignment? Or is it my will that I want to go to Law school, finish Senior Research, have a job that will benefit me, study for the LSAT, and complete my course work, that has caused me to not have enough time to finish an assignment. Yet, I willed myself to open my computer and finish said assignment. I believe I can argue, that it may be a little bit of both. I am not a very religious person, but it isn’t inconceivable that a higher power has willed the capability of success into everyone, and individuals need to use their own will to push themselves to achieve that success. Is it God’s will or mine to succeed? There are close to 8 billion people in the world, all with their own lives, families, past times, goals etc., and a single being interjects His will on every single one of