Nicolas Malebranche facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Nicolas Malebranche
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| Born | 6 August 1638 |
| Died | 13 October 1715 (aged 77) Paris, Kingdom of France
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| Alma mater | University of Paris (Collège de la Marche and Collège de Sorbonne) |
| Era | 17th-century philosophy |
| Region | Western philosophy |
| School | Rationalism Cartesianism Augustinianism Occasionalism |
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Main interests
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Metaphysics, epistemology |
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Notable ideas
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Synthesis of the philosophies of St. Augustine and Descartes, occasionalism, ontologism, theodicy, vision in God, intelligible extension |
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Influences
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Influenced
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Nicolas Malebranche (born August 6, 1638 – died October 13, 1715) was a French Catholic priest and philosopher. He was part of a group of thinkers called rationalists. Malebranche tried to combine the ideas of two famous philosophers: Saint Augustine and René Descartes. He wanted to show how God is actively involved in everything that happens in the world. Malebranche is best known for his ideas about "vision in God," "occasionalism," and "ontologism."
Contents
Who Was Nicolas Malebranche?
His Early Life and Education
Nicolas Malebranche was born in Paris in 1638. He was the youngest child in his family. His father worked for King Louis XIII of France. Because Malebranche had a problem with his spine, he was taught at home when he was young.
At age sixteen, he went to the University of Paris to study philosophy. Later, he studied theology, which is the study of religious faith. He didn't like the old-fashioned way of thinking taught there, so he left. In 1660, he joined a religious group called the Oratory. There, he studied history, languages, the Bible, and the works of Saint Augustine. He became a priest in 1664.
How Descartes Influenced Him
In 1664, Malebranche read a book by René Descartes called Treatise on Man. This book explained how the human body works. Malebranche's friends said that Descartes' book helped him see the natural world in a new way. It was different from the old ideas he had learned. Malebranche then spent the next ten years studying Descartes' philosophy.
His Main Philosophical Work
From 1674 to 1675, Malebranche published his most important philosophical work. It was called Concerning the Search after Truth. This book explored why people make mistakes and how to avoid them. A key idea in the book was that the ideas we use to understand objects actually exist in God.
Malebranche's book got a lot of attention. He added more parts to it later to answer critics and explain his ideas further. He also wrote about "intelligible extension," which is the idea that all physical things share a basic, universal idea of space that exists in God.
He also explained that God usually acts through "general rules" or "laws of nature." This means God doesn't usually make things happen one by one. Instead, God set up general rules for the world to follow. Miracles, for example, would be rare exceptions to these general rules.
Disputes and Challenges
In 1680, Malebranche published another book called Treatise on Nature and Grace. This book said that God's general rules apply not only to nature but also to how God gives grace to people. Another philosopher named Antoine Arnauld strongly disagreed with this book. They had a long and heated debate.
Because of these debates, the Catholic Church placed Nature and Grace on its Index of Prohibited Books in 1690. This meant the Church did not want people to read it. His first book, The Search after Truth, was also added to the list later.
Key Dates in Malebranche's Life
- 1638: Born in Paris.
- 1654: Began studying philosophy and theology at the University of Paris.
- 1660: Became a member of the French Oratory.
- 1664: Read Descartes' Treatise on Man and started studying his philosophy.
- 1674–75: Published The Search After Truth.
- 1678: Added more explanations to a new edition of The Search After Truth.
- 1680: Published Treatise of Nature and Grace.
- 1690: Treatise of Nature and Grace was added to the Index of Prohibited Books.
- 1709: The Search After Truth was also added to the Index.
- 1715: Malebranche passed away.
Malebranche's Main Ideas
How Do We See Things? (Vision in God)
Malebranche believed that humans understand things because of God. He said that our knowledge depends on God's understanding. He thought that when we know something, we use "ideas." These ideas are not in our minds, but they exist in God.
So, when we see an object, we don't see it directly. Instead, we see the idea of that object that exists in God. These ideas are perfect and unchanging. This means that the truths we discover, like in geometry or ethics, are also eternal and unchanging because they come from God.
Malebranche also explained how we perceive things with our senses, like seeing colors. He said that while the basic idea of an object (like its shape) is in God, our personal "sensations" (like the color we see) are unique to our minds. The sensation helps us see a specific object, even though the underlying idea is universal.
Why Does Evil Exist? (Theodicy)
Malebranche also tried to answer the "problem of evil." This is the question of why bad things happen if God is good and all-powerful. He agreed that God could have made a perfect world with no problems. However, such a world would have needed very complex rules from God.
Malebranche believed that God chose to create a world with simpler, more general laws. These laws are good because they show God's wisdom. Sometimes, these simple laws can lead to natural problems or evils. But God allows this because the overall system of simple laws is better and more perfect than a world with extremely complex rules to prevent every single problem.
Mind and Body: How Do They Connect?
Malebranche was influenced by Descartes' ideas about the mind and body being separate. But Malebranche went further. He argued that we don't fully understand our own minds. He said that our minds are "highly obscure" to us.
He also believed that the mind and body cannot directly affect each other. For example, when you decide to raise your arm, your thought doesn't directly make your arm move. Instead, your thought is just the "occasion" for God to act. God is the one who actually causes both your thought and the movement of your arm. This idea is called "occasionalism."
Occasionalism: God Does Everything
Occasionalism is the belief that God is the only true cause of anything. Created things, like humans or objects, don't have the power to cause things to happen themselves. They are just "occasions" for God to act.
So, when one thing seems to cause another (like a ball hitting another ball and making it move), Malebranche would say that God is actually causing both events. God makes the first ball move, and then, on the "occasion" of that movement, God makes the second ball move.
God follows certain "laws of nature" that He chose. These laws are simple and few, which shows God's wisdom. This means that events in the world happen in a regular way, even though God is the one causing everything.
Malebranche's Scientific Work
Malebranche is mostly known for his philosophy, but he also made contributions to physics.
His Ideas on Light and Color
In 1699, he gave a speech about light and color. He suggested that different colors come from different speeds of vibrations in tiny particles, similar to how different musical notes come from different speeds of air vibrations. This idea was a change from Descartes' view and had some similarities to Isaac Newton's ideas about light. Malebranche later mentioned Newton's work in his own writings.
Contributions to Mathematics and Mechanics
Malebranche also wrote about the laws of motion. He discussed these ideas with another famous philosopher, Gottfried Leibniz. He also helped spread the ideas of Descartes and Leibniz in France, especially in mathematics. He introduced a mathematician named Guillaume de l'Hôpital to Johann Bernoulli, which led to the first textbook on calculus.
Ideas on Embryos
Malebranche also had an interesting idea about how living things develop. He thought that each embryo (a developing baby) might contain even smaller embryos inside it, like a set of Russian nesting dolls. He believed that an endless series of plants and animals were hidden inside a seed or an egg.
His Lasting Impact
While not many philosophers followed Malebranche's ideas exactly, he was highly respected during his lifetime and for some time after. His ideas influenced many important thinkers.
For example, George Berkeley was influenced by Malebranche's idea that we don't directly see physical objects. Berkeley took this idea further and argued that physical objects don't exist outside our minds at all.
Gottfried Leibniz also discussed Malebranche's ideas. While he didn't agree with "vision in God," he did agree that God's wisdom is shown in the simplicity of the laws God uses to create the world.
David Hume used Malebranche's arguments to show that we can't truly understand how one thing causes another in the world. However, Hume looked to the human mind for answers, not to God.
For a long time, Malebranche's reputation outside of France wasn't very strong. But in recent decades, scholars have become much more interested in his work. Many now believe that his unique and complete philosophical system deserves to be recognized alongside other great philosophers like Descartes, Spinoza, and Leibniz.
See also
In Spanish: Nicolas Malebranche para niños
- List of Roman Catholic scientist-clerics
