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Causal and Logical Necessity in Malebranche's Occasionalism

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2020

A.R.J. Fisher
A.R.J. Fisher
Affiliation:
Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY 13244, USA
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The famous Cartesian Nicolas Malebranche (1638-1715) espoused the occasionalist doctrine that ‘there is only one true cause because there is only one true God; that the nature or power of each thing is nothing but the will of God; that all natural causes are not true causes but only occasional causes’ (LO, 448, original italics). One of Malebranche's well-known arguments for occasionalism, known as, the ‘no necessary connection’ argument (or, NNC) stems from the principle that ‘a true cause… is one such that the mind perceives a necessary connection between it and its effect’ (LO, 450).

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Research Article
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Canadian Journal of Philosophy , Volume 41 , Issue 4 , December 2011 , pp. 523 - 548
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Copyright © The Authors 2011

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