Arguments of the Philosophers series: Malebranche

Format Paperback | 304 pages

Dimensions 159 x 235 x 22.35mm | 476g

Publication date 22 Nov 2006

Publisher ROUTLEDGE

ISBN10 0415408113

ISBN13 9780415408110

作品簡介

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.

尼古拉斯·馬勒伯朗士於1638年出生在巴黎，是他們家最小的孩子，他的父親尼古拉斯·馬勒伯朗士是法國路易十三世的大臣，他的母親Catherine de Lauzon是當時新法蘭西總督 Jean de Lauson的妹妹。因為脊柱畸形，馬勒伯朗士從一個私人導師那受到他的啟蒙教育。他在十六歲離家到Collège de la Marche學習哲學課程，並隨後在Collège de Sorbonne學習神學。最終，他離開索邦大學後，1660年進入天主教的司鐸修會。在那裏，他獻身於教會的歷史，語言學，聖經和聖奧古斯丁的作品研究。馬勒伯朗士在1664年成為神父。

在1664年，馬勒伯朗士是第一個讀笛卡爾《論人：關於人體的生理學解讀》這本書的人。

他從唯心主義方面發展了R.笛卡爾的學説，試圖將聖奧古斯丁與笛卡爾的思想進行整合。他認為除物質和精神兩種實體外，還存在上帝實體。上帝不僅是萬物的創造者，且自身包含着萬物。人是靈魂和肉體的結合，人的肉體是機器。精神與物質不能相互作用，精神只有通過心智的廣延，即在上帝那裏才能認識萬物。他承認感覺的作用，但認為理性作用更重要、更準確。他是偶因論的主要代表之一，認為自然界除一般法則外，還存在大量由各種機緣產生的因果連鎖 。

編輯/媒體推薦

'Among the very best general introductions to Malebranche written in English.' - Mind

'…few can read Malebranche without seeing that he is a genuine philosopher. Andrew Pyle's excellent book…is the culmination of this renewed interest in Malebranche…just the book we have been waiting for.' - Nicholas Jolley, Times Literary Supplement

作者簡介

Andrew Pyle is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Bristol. He is the author of Atomism and its Critics and the editor of Key Philosophers in Conversation and the fomer editor of the journal Cogito.