Malebranche

Nicolas Malebranche (1638-1715) is one of the most important philosophers of the seventeenth century after Descartes. A pioneer of rationalism he was one of the first to champion and to further Cartesian ideas. Andrew Pyle places Malebranche's work in the context of Descartes and other philosophers and also in its relation to ideas about faith and reason. He examines the entirety of Malebranche's writings including the famous The Search After Truth which was admired and criticized by both Leibniz and Locke. Pyle presents an integrated account of Malebranche's central theses occasionalism and 'vision in God' before exploring and assessing Malebranche's contribution to debates on physics and biology and his views on the soul self-knowledge grace and the freedom of the will. This penetrating and wide-ranging study will be of interest to not only philosophers but also to historians of science and philosophy theologians and students of the Enlightenment or seventeenth century thought. . Language: English