ABSTRACT
Nicolas Malebranche’s philosophical system is the fruit of his labor to marry the mechanical Cartesian philosophy to the more theologically grounded Augustinian philosophy. The former union is best understood through Malebranche’s mechanical explanation of the senses, the imagination, the general inclinations, and the passions. The latter union is best understood through Malebranche’s unique theory of ideas. While Malebranche holds that the mind is a simple and indivisible substance, he nevertheless uses the conventional division of the mind into the faculties of the understanding and the will. According to Malebranche, we mitigate the overwhelming influence of sensory stimuli through attention. Malebranche depicts attention as an act of freedom, a desire to turn towards God, an effort to turn away from sensible things, and as a natural prayer that is always answered.
