HoP 490 Steven Nadler on Occasionalism

In this episode of the History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps, Peter Adamson interviews Steven Nadler on the philosophical doctrine of occasionalism, particularly as developed by Nicolas Malebranche. Nadler clarifies that occasionalism is the view that only God has true causal power, and all natural events—whether body-body, mind-body, or mental—are merely occasions for God to act. He traces the origins of occasionalism to medieval Islamic thought, especially the Asharite theologians like Al-Ghazali, though the term itself emerged in the 17th century. While many assume occasionalism arose to solve the mind-body interaction problem, Nadler argues this is a myth; instead, it stems from deeper Cartesian metaphysics, empirical skepticism about causation (foreshadowing Hume), and theological commitments. He highlights early Cartesian thinkers like La Forge and Cudworth as precursors to Malebranche, but emphasizes that Malebranche’s version is uniquely theological, driven by Augustinian concerns about divine grace and human freedom. Nadler explains how Malebranche reconciles occasionalism with free will through a model of 'suspended consent'—where humans don't cause volitions but can withhold assent to divine impulses, allowing for moral responsibility. The episode also explores Malebranche’s controversial view of grace as distributed occasionally through Christ’s desires, which clashed with the more deterministic Jansenist theology of Arnaud. Finally, Nadler previews the next episode’s focus on the debate over 'vision in God,' where Malebranche claims all true knowledge comes from divine ideas, making human cognition epistemically dependent on God just as causation is.