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Malebranche's Augustinianism and the Mind's Perfection University of Pennsylvania ScholarlyCommons Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations Spring 2010 Malebranche's Augustinianism and the Mind's Perfection Jason Skirry University of Pennsylvania, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations Part of the History of Philosophy Commons Recommended Citation Skirry, Jason, "Malebranche's Augustinianism and the Mind's Perfection" (2010). Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations. 179. https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/179 This paper is posted at ScholarlyCommons. https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/179 For more information, please contact [email protected]. Malebranche's Augustinianism and the Mind's Perfection Abstract This dissertation presents a unified interpretation of Malebranche’s philosophical system that is based on his Augustinian theory of the mind’s perfection, which consists in maximizing the mind’s ability to successfully access, comprehend, and follow God’s Order through practices that purify and cognitively enhance the mind’s attention. I argue that the mind’s perfection figures centrally in Malebranche’s philosophy and is the main hub that connects and reconciles the three fundamental principles of his system, namely, his occasionalism, divine illumination, and freedom. To demonstrate this, I first present, in chapter one, Malebranche’s philosophy within the historical and intellectual context of his membership in the French Oratory, arguing that the Oratory’s particular brand of Augustinianism, initiated by Cardinal Bérulle and propagated by Oratorians such as Andre Martin, is at the core of his philosophy and informs his theory of perfection. Next, in chapter two, I explicate Augustine’s own theory of perfection in order to provide an outline, and a basis of comparison, for Malebranche’s own theory of perfection. In chapter three, I present Malebranche’s theory, along with showing its compatibility with his theory of divine illumination. In chapters four and five, I reconcile the mind’s ability to perfect itself with Malebranche’s strict occasionalism. In the end, I argue that Malebranche is not a full-blown occasionalist, but rather an instrumental occasionalist, which ultimately leaves metaphysical room for the mind to freely control its attention and produce its own attentive desires. Degree Type Dissertation Degree Name Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Graduate Group Philosophy First Advisor Karen Detlefsen Keywords Malebranche, occasionalism, causation, augustine, perfection, Oratory Subject Categories History of Philosophy This dissertation is available at ScholarlyCommons: https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/179 MALEBRANCHE’S AUGUSTINIANISM AND THE MIND’S PERFECTION Jason Skirry A DISSERTATION in Philosophy Presented to the Faculties of the University of Pennsylvania in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2010 Supervisor of Dissertation ________________________________________________ Karen Detlefsen, Associate Professor, Philosophy Graduate Group Chairperson ________________________________________________ Kok-chor Tan, Associate Professor, Philosophy Dissertation Committee James F. Ross, Professor of Philosophy Gary Hatfield, Professor of Philosophy ii Dedication To my lovely wife and soul mate Katherina and my beautiful daughter Anna. iii Acknowledgements I would first like to thank my committee. I want to thank Gary Hatfield for introducing me to seventeenth-century Augustinian tradition, James Ross for encouraging me to think creatively as well as helping me formulate my thoughts with precision, and my advisor Karen Detlefsen for her encouragement and patience through this long and difficult process. I could not have done it without the support of my family, particularly the monetary and emotional support of my mother and grandmother, and the loving care of my wife, who patiently engaged in long conversations about Malebranche, and who helped me through my many frustrations while also celebrating my triumphs with gusto. iv ABSTRACT MALEBRANCHE’S AUGUSTIANISM AND THE MIND’S PERFECTION Jason Skirry Karen Detlefsen This dissertation presents a unified interpretation of Malebranche’s philosophical system that is based on his Augustinian theory of the mind’s perfection, which consists in maximizing the mind’s ability to successfully access, comprehend, and follow God’s Order through practices that purify and cognitively enhance the mind’s attention. I argue that the mind’s perfection figures centrally in Malebranche’s philosophy and is the main hub that connects and reconciles the three fundamental principles of his system, namely, his occasionalism, divine illumination, and freedom. To demonstrate this, I first present, in chapter one, Malebranche’s philosophy within the historical and intellectual context of his membership in the French Oratory, arguing that the Oratory’s particular brand of Augustinianism, initiated by Cardinal Bérulle and propagated by Oratorians such as Andre Martin, is at the core of his philosophy and informs his theory of perfection. Next, in chapter two, I explicate Augustine’s own theory of perfection in order to provide an v outline, and a basis of comparison, for Malebranche’s own theory of perfection. In chapter three, I present Malebranche’s theory, along with showing its compatibility with his theory of divine illumination. In chapters four and five, I reconcile the mind’s ability to perfect itself with Malebranche’s strict occasionalism. In the end, I argue that Malebranche is not a full-blown occasionalist, but rather an instrumental occasionalist, which ultimately leaves metaphysical room for the mind to freely control its attention and produce its own attentive desires. vi Table of contents Dedication.....................................................................................................................ii Acknowledgements....................................................................................................iii ABSTRACT..................................................................................................................iv Introduction..................................................................................................................1 1. Malebranche’s Augustinianism.........................................................................7 1.1 Introduction ...................................................................................................7 1.2 Malebranche’s Spiritual and Intellectual Influences................................8 1.3 Remsberg’s Wisdom-Science Model ........................................................20 1.3.1 The Augustinianism of Jansenism ....................................................26 1.3.2 The Augustinianism of the Oratory..................................................34 1.4 Malebranche’s Augustinianism and the Mind’s Perfection .................43 2. Augustine and the Mind’s Perfection.............................................................55 2.1 Introduction .................................................................................................55 2.2 Perfecting the Soul ......................................................................................56 2.2.1 The Augustinian Soul .........................................................................65 2.2.2 Augustine’s Theory of Divine Illumination.....................................71 2.3 Three Stages of Perfection..........................................................................79 2.3.1 Plotinus .................................................................................................80 2.3.2 Augustine..............................................................................................91 3. Malebranche and the Mind’s Perfection ......................................................109 3.1 Introduction ...............................................................................................109 3.2 Malebranche’s Theory of Perfection.......................................................111 3.2.1 Adam’s Prelapsarian Perfection ......................................................118 3.2.2 Liberty and Concupiscence..............................................................124 3.2.3 Cartesian Physiology ........................................................................128 3.2.4 Jesus Christ and the Grace of Feeling .............................................140 3.2.5 Interlude: Jolley and Efficacious Ideas ...........................................147 3.2.6 The Mind’s Internal Resources: Strength and Freedom of Mind158 3.3 Conclusion: Summary of Malebranche’s Theory of Perfection..........174 4. Divine Causation and Malebranche’s Occasionalism ................................176 4.1 Introduction ...............................................................................................176 4.2 Scholastic Accounts of Divine Causation..............................................181 4.2.1 Scholastic Metaphysics and Efficient Causation...........................183 4.2.2 Scholastic Accounts of Divine Causation.......................................192 4.2.3 Occasionalism, al-Ghazālī and Averroes .......................................207 vii 4.3 Cartesian Accounts of Causation: Descartes and La Forge ................212 4.3.1 Descartes and Continuous Creation ...............................................213 4.3.2 Descartes and Body-Body Occasionalism......................................217
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