Document Type : Original Article
Authors
1 Professor at Institute for Humanities and Cultural Studies, Tehran, Iran
2 PhD Student in Philosophy, Allameh Tabatabaei University, Tehran, Iran
Abstract
To solve the mind-body problem that didn’t get the proper response from Descartes, Malebranche by reanalyzing the concept of “causal power” in addition to purifying the human mind from the Scholastic faults, tried to de-independent all the creatures and by suggesting the theory so-called “Occasionalism”, considered God as the only real cause and treated the natural events as a mere occasion for God’s agency. However, according to the high position of morality in Malebranche’s thought, he must provide an explanation to count human beings responsible for their actions. This explanation should be compatible with his basic epistemic principle -i.e. Occasionalism- and to solve the problems like the problem of Evil, which needed to proceed not by mere faith but only with reliance on philosophical rationality (which was a mixture of Descartes and Saint Augustine). Malebranche who realized well that in this matter we cannot expect complete rational clear and distinct expression and should be content with metaphoric ones, indeed retreated from his desired Cartesian rationality and none of his solutions were good enough to reconcile between Occasionalism and human freedom.
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