Malebranche (Arguments of the Philosophers)

304 Pages·2003·1.11 MB·English

by  Andrew Pyle

M A L E B R A N C H E
ARGUMENTS OF THE PHILOSOPHERS
The purpose of this series is to provide a contemporary assessment and
history of the entire course of philosophical thought. Each book contains
a detailed, critical introduction to the work of a philosopher or school of
major influence and significance.
Also available in the series:
AQUINAS * NIETZSCHE
Eleonore Stump Richard Schacht
* DESCARTES PLATO
Margaret D. Wilson Justin Gosling
* HEGEL * PLOTINUS
M.J. Inwood Lloyd P. Gerson
* HUME * ROUSSEAU
Barry Stroud Timothy O’Hagan
KANT * THE PRESOCRATIC
Ralph C.S. Walker PHILOSOPHERS
Jonathan Barnes
KIERKEGAARD
Alastair Hannay * SANTAYANA
Timothy L.S. Sprigge
* LOCKE
Michael Ayers * THE SCEPTICS
R.J. Hankinson
* KARL MARX
Allen Wood * WITTGENSTEIN, 2nd edition
Robert Fogelin
* MERLEAU-PONTY
Stephen Priest * also available in paperback
M A L E B R A N C H E
Andrew Pyle
First published 2003
by Routledge
11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2003.
© 2003 Andrew Pyle
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic,
mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented,
including photocopying and recording, or in any information
storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the
publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the
British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Pyle, Andrew.
Malebranche / Andrew Pyle.
p. cm. – (The arguments of the philosophers)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Malebranche, Nicolas, 1638–1715. I. Title. II. Series.
B1897 .P95 2002
194–dc21 2002032459
ISBN 0-203-41770-4 Master e-book ISBN
ISBN 0-203-41915-4 (Adobe eReader Format)
ISBN 0–415–28911–4(Print Edition)
In memory of David Hirschmann (1939–97), teacher, colleague
and friend, lover of the good things of life – French civilisation,
slow food, red wine, bridge, and the rationalist philosophy
of the seventeenth century.
My one regret regarding this book is that he will never read it,
although it owes so much to him in so many ways.

CONTENTS
CONTENTS
Abbreviations and editions x
Preface xii
1 Introduction 1
Life and works 1
Descartes and Augustine 5
Faith and reason 9
Difficulties 13
2 Tensions in Cartesian metaphysics 18
Richard Watson’s Downfall of Cartesianism 18
Descartes on ideas 21
Later Cartesian accounts of ideas 28
Descartes on causation 33
Later Cartesian accounts of causation 39
3 The Vision in God 47
The argument for ideas 47
The eliminative argument for the Vision in God 50
The argument from properties 57
Intelligible extension 61
Efficacious ideas 67
Nadler’s Malebranche 71
4 The dispute with Arnauld over the nature of ideas 74
Arnauld’s Vraies et Fausses Idées 75
Malebranche’s Réponse 79
What is at stake? Arnauld’s version of the debate 83
What is at stake? Malebranche’s version of the debate 85
Deeper reasons 89
vii
CONTENTS
5 Occasionalism and continuous creation 96
How not to think of occasionalism 96
The idea of necessary connection 98
Particular causal relations 101
Continuous creation 111
Continuous creation and volontés générales 114
Is this the best of all possible worlds? 118
Objections and replies 121
6 Malebranche’s modifications of Cartesian physics 131
Malebranche’s Cartesian inheritance 131
Malebranche’s philosophical physics 141
Malebranche’s first revision of Descartes: drop the
force of rest 144
Malebranche’s second revision of Descartes: abandon the
scalar conservation principle 147
Malebranche’s third revision of Descartes: reject
hard bodies 150
Is Malebranche an empiricist malgré lui? 154
7 Malebranche’s biology 158
Nature and supernature 158
Descartes’ naturalistic cosmogony 160
Worlds and organisms in Malebranche 161
The theory of pre-existence 166
Creation and special providence 173
The problem of monsters 176
The maternal imagination and original sin 180
Conclusion: reason and experience in Malebranche’s
biology 182
8 Malebranche on the soul and self-knowledge 186
Descartes’ arguments for the immateriality of the soul 186
We lack a clear idea of the soul 188
Divine and human knowledge 191
The via negativa route to dualism 195
Personal immortality under threat 198
Metaphysics and introspection 200
The sciences of psychology 203
Two final questions 207
viii
CONTENTS
9 Malebranche on freedom, grace and the will 209
Philosophical background: continuous creation and the
Vision in God 209
Theological background: Augustine against the Pelagians 211
Freedom and grace in the Recherche 215
The Traité de la Nature et de la Grâce 221
The controversy with Arnauld 227
The prémotion physique 230
10 The downfall of Malebranchism 234
Epistemological difficulties 235
Metaphysical difficulties 242
Ethical difficulties 246
Theological difficulties 252
Malebranche’s influence 257
Notes 262
Bibliography 279
Indexes 286
ix