ABSTRACT
A French philosopher and Oratorian priest, he integrated the Cartesian heritage into an original and rationalist speculative system, which he elaborated on theological foundations. Malebranche considered the universe similar to the mechanism of a clock, regulated by the continuing action of God; he denied the existence of inherent forces in bodies. The collision of two bodies is, thus, the occasion for God’s intervention to effect the changes in motion in the simplest manner; in similar situations, God effects the same changes. This approach is known as Malebranche’s occasionalism.
