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Occasionalism

Occasionalism is a form of dualism in the Philosophy of Mind which seeks to deal with the problem of causal interaction between mind and body by positing a form of parallelism (where mental events and physical events are coordinated, but they do not interact). It is said to have had its beginnings around 1666, with a man named Louis de la Forge, who some people maintain was the founder of occasionalism. Notwithstanding, Nicolas Malebranche is the philosopher most commonly identified as the pioneer of the philosophy, especially considering that it was he who most furthered its development and recognition.

The basic theory of occasionalism contends that both mental events and bodily events are ultimately caused and coordinated by God (just as it is also God who wills all of the effects of the cause to take place). God coordinates events to occur both in the physical and the mental realms simultaneously, thus neither one wields any power over the other since neither causes the other. As such, the beings (human, animal, etc.) that God controls are said to be “occasions” of the Divine activity.

Web Resources On Occasionalism

Catholic Encyclopedia: Occassionalism
Wikipedia: Occassionalism

Book Resources On Occasionalism

Causation in Early Modern Philosophy by Steven Nadler (Editor)
Malebranche by Andrew Pyle

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