Res Philosophica 92 (1):21-40 (2015)
Authors |
|
Abstract |
I consider a somewhat obscure but important feature of Descartes’s physics that concerns the notion of the “force of rest.” Contrary to a prominent occasionalist interpretation of Descartes’s physics, I argue that Descartes himself attributes real forces to resting bodies. I also take his account of rest to conflict with the view that God conserves the world by “re-creating” it anew at each moment. I turn next to the role of rest in Malebranche. Malebranche takes Descartes to endorse his own occasionalist version of physics. However, he nonetheless rejects Descartes’s account of rest by appealing to the fact that whereas God’s production of motion requires a power beyond the mere power to create, his production of rest requires only the latter power. It turns out that this argument in Malebranche is incompatible with the sort of “re-creationist” account of divine conservation that he is widely thought to have inherited from Descartes.
|
Keywords | Catholic Tradition Contemporary Philosophy History of Philosophy |
Categories | (categorize this paper) |
ISBN(s) | 2168-9105 |
DOI | 10.11612/resphil.2015.92.1.4 |
Options |
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Download options
References found in this work BETA
Physiologia: Natural Philosophy in Late Aristotelian and Cartesian Thought.Dennis Des Chene - 1996 - Cornell University Press.
The Philosophical Writings of Descartes, Vol. 3: Correspondence, Trans. By John G. Cottingham, Robert Stoothof, Dugald Murdoch, and Anthony Kenny.René Descartes - 1991 - Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Force (God) in Descartes' Physics.Gary C. Hatfield - 1979 - Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A 10 (2):113-140.
The Search After Truth.Nicolas Malebranche - 1991 - In Aloysius Martinich, Fritz Allhoff & Anand Vaidya (eds.), Early Modern Philosophy: Essential Readings with Commentary. Blackwell.
View all 24 references / Add more references
Citations of this work BETA
Spinoza on the Resistance of Bodies.Galen Barry - 2021 - Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A 86:56-67.
Liberal Education and the Possibility of Valuational Progress.Agnes Callard - 2017 - Social Philosophy and Policy 34 (2):1-22.
Similar books and articles
« Blasphème » Ou « Imagination Sans Fondement » ? La Bataille Des Griefs Théologiques Entre Descartes Et Malebranche.Cristian Moisuc - 2013 - Meta 5 (1):201-218.
Malebranche on Descartes on Mind-Body Distinctness.Tad M. Schmaltz - 1994 - Journal of the History of Philosophy 32 (4):573-603.
Die Angriffe Gegen Descartes Und Malebranche Im Journal de Trévoux, 1701-1715.Emmy Allard - 1914 - M. Niemeyer.
The Relationship Between the Concept of God and Ideas in Malebranche.Mary Bernard Curran - 2003 - Dissertation, The University of Memphis
Descartes and Malebranche on Thought, Sensation and the Nature of the Mind.Antonia Lolordo - 2005 - Journal of the History of Philosophy 43 (4):387-402.
Malebranche’s Theory of the Soul: A Cartesian Interpretation.Tad Schmaltz - 1996 - Oxford University Press.
On the Role of Metaphysics in Descartes' Thought.Marcelo Dascal - 1971 - Man and World 4 (4):460-469.
Occasionalism and Strict Mechanism: Malebranche, Berkeley, Fontenelle.Lisa Downing - 2005 - In Christia Mercer (ed.), Early Modern Philosophy: Mind, Matter, and Metaphysics. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. pp. 206-230.
Malebranche and Descartes on Method: Psychologism, Free Will, and Doubt.David Scott - 2008 - Southern Journal of Philosophy 46 (4):581-604.
Knowing Our Nature: A Note on Régis' Response to Malebranche.Fred Ablondi - 2007 - History of European Ideas 33 (2):135-141.
Dialogues Avec les Philosophes, Descartes, Spinoza, Malebranche, Pascal, Saint Augustin.Maurice Blondel - 1966 - Aubier-Montaigne.
The Self-Body Problem in Descartes and Malebranche.Colin William Chamberlain - 2014 - Dissertation, Harvard University
Analytics
Added to PP index
2015-09-04
Total views
38 ( #267,512 of 2,410,100 )
Recent downloads (6 months)
2 ( #348,045 of 2,410,100 )
2015-09-04
Total views
38 ( #267,512 of 2,410,100 )
Recent downloads (6 months)
2 ( #348,045 of 2,410,100 )
How can I increase my downloads?
Downloads