Occasionalism: what it is and what this philosophical current proposes

Occasionalism is one of the philosophical currents that understand the body and the mind as separate entities. In other words, it is a dualistic perspective that questions the possibility that body and mind are equally constitutive elements of the human being.

In this article we explain in an introductory way what dualism is, and what the perspective we call occasionalism is about.

• Related article: "How are Psychology and Philosophy similar?"

Descartes' dualistic thought

Dualism is a philosophical position based on the idea that the mind and the body are two separate entities. In other words, that the mind does not feel, just as the body does not think. Descartes came to doubt everything except his ability to think., with which, what the body felt was in the background.

It is generally recognized Rene Descartes as the maximum exponent of modern dualism, since he was the first philosopher to oppose the reality of the mind with that of the body (that of the brain).

For him, the mind exists independently of the body.

, with which, it has its own substance. This substance, in the religious-scientific context of Descartes, can be of three types: interactionist (which allows mental processes to have effects on the body); parallelist (mental causes only have mental effects that masquerade as physical, but are not); and finally a substance of the occasional type, which we will explain below.

• Related article: "Dualism in Psychology"

Occasionalism: an explanation of causality

For Descartes, the occasionalist substance is the one that does not allow the interaction between the material and immaterial terrain. The relationship between these is impossible, because there is an external entity that makes that the events that we understand as "cause-effect" occur. This entity is God, and it is only through his intervention that mind and body can be connected.

Thus, occasionalism is a philosophical position that, in addition to establishing that the mind and the body are separate; It also establishes that nothing that we perceive as a "cause-effect" relationship is really linked to a cause outside of God.

The causes are nothing other than the occasion for God to produce certain facts, which we have called "effects." For example, in a relation A->B; event A is not a cause, but rather an occasion for God to produce fact B, which is what we experience and translate as "the effect."

What we know as "cause" is only apparent, it is always occasional (that is, it depends on the specific opportunity). In turn, the event that we perceive as an effect, is the result of God's decision. Thus, the true cause is always hidden from our knowledge. As it is given in advance by God, and by the occasion that is presented to him; we human beings cannot know it, we can simply experience it, in the form of effect.

But, remembering that God, the mind and knowledge at this time were very related, what this means is that, for the occasionalism, our mental processes, beliefs, thoughts, intentions, do not generate attitudes, emotions or behaviors; rather, the congruence between these processes is facilitated by a divine entity.

Human beings cannot know this divine entity at all., he has his own vision and will, and from there he moves all material things.

Nicolas Malebranche, key author

The French philosopher Nicolas Malebranche is one of the greatest exponents of occasionalism. He lived between the years 1628 and 1715 and is recognized as one of the representative intellectuals of the Enlightenment.

Initially, Malebranche followed the dualistic postulates of Descartes's rationalism, which were being developed in a century where reason was closely combined with beliefs religious. Science, philosophy, and Christianity were not completely separate from each other, as they are now.

Within the postulates of him, Malebranche he tried to reconcile the thoughts of Descartes with those of Saint Augustine, and in this way demonstrate that the active role of God in all aspects of the world could be demonstrated through the doctrine that we call "Occasionalism".

Although he tried to distance himself from Descartes's proposals, there are several contemporary philosophers who consider that it should be considered within their own tradition, as well as together with Spinoza and Leibniz. However, other authors consider that Malebranche's thought is more radical than Descartes'. The latter considered that at some point, the body and the soul were connected, and this point was the Pineal gland.

Malebranche considered, instead, that body and soul are completely independent entities, and that if there comes to be a connection between the two, it is because there is a divine entity involved that makes it possible. So, God is the cause of everything that happens in "reality". Causes are occasions for God, God is the only cause, and through this is how human beings know the world.

In other words, for Malebranche, the only true cause of everything that exists is God, with which, everything that exists we perceive as an "effect of something", it is nothing more than a moment or opportunity of God to provoke or to achieve that something.

Bibliographic references:

• The Basics of Philosophy (2018). Philosophy of mind. Retrieved May 27, 2018. Available in https://www.philosophybasics.com/philosophers_malebranche.html