An Analysis About Nicolas De Malebranche

Nicolas Malebranche

     The seventeenth-century French philosopher Nicolas Malebranche (1638–1715) famously argued that ‘we see all things in God.’ This doctrine of ‘Vision in God’ is intended as an account both of sense perception of material things and of the purely intellectual cognition of mathematical objects and abstract truths. 

Nicolas Malebranche’s Biography

        Nicolas Malebranche, Oratory of Jesus, was a French Oratorian priest and rationalist philosopher. In his works, he sought to synthesize the thought of St. Augustine and Descartes, in order to demonstrate the active role of God in every aspect of the world. Malebranche is best known for his doctrines of Vision in God, Occasionalism and Ontologism. 

        Malebranche was born in Paris on August 6, 1638. Malebranche was born in frail health. His particular affliction was a severe malformation of the spine. Because of a malformed spine, Malebranche received his elementary education from a private tutor. He left home at the age of sixteen to pursue a course of philosophy at the Collège de la Marche, and subsequently to study theology at the Collège de Sorbonne, both colleges from the University of Paris. His education left him with a distaste for a scholasticism that focused on the work of Aristotle. Thus, in 1660 he decided to leave the universities and to enter the Oratory, a religious congregation founded in 1611 by the Augustinian theologian Pierre Bérulle (1575–1629). At the Oratory in Paris, Malebranche studied ecclesiastical history, linguistics, and the Bible, and with his fellow students also immersed himself in the work of Augustine. He was ordained a priest on September 14, 1664.

Nicolas Malebranche’s Philosophy

       Because of his perseverance, Malebranche devoted himself to a decade-long study of the Cartesian method and its results in mathematics and natural philosophy. The fruit of this study is a two-volume work bearing the title, De la recherche de la vérité. Où l’on traitte de la nature de l’esprit de l’homme, et de l’usage qu’il en doit faire pour eviter l’erreur dans les sciences (Search after Truth. In which is treated the nature of the human mind and the use that must be made of it to avoid error in the sciences ) (1674–75).

      As for his philosophical perspective, “Ideas and the Vision in God”, Malebranche’s assertion is that we have a freedom to “consent” to certain motives for action, his claim that reason provides no conclusive demonstration of the existence of the material world, his doctrine of the vision of ideas in God, his conclusion that we know our own soul through a confused consciousness rather than through a clear idea of its nature, and his occasionalist thesis that God is the only true cause.

      This doctrine of ‘Vision in God’ is intended as an account both of sense perception of material things and of the purely intellectual cognition of mathematical objects and abstract truths. The theological motivation for this doctrine is clear: Vision in God places us in immediate contact with God in our everyday experience of the world and in some of our most private thoughts and musings. Like his other signature doctrine, ‘Occasionalism’ or the view that God is the only genuine cause, Vision in God is also rooted in Malebranche’s conviction that we utterly depend on God in every way.

Analysis

       First of all, his philosophical views has something to do with my belief when it comes to religion or some points that are related to spiritual things. In fact, I am amazed because his philosophical views are based on the Bible. He concluded that we know our soul not because of having a clear idea of its nature but through a confused consciousness. He believed that the only cause of it is God. It is true. According to the Bible, In Philippians chapter 2 verse 13, it says, “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.”. Meaning, God is the one who work for us to have a desire on doing good things. In parallelism to Malebranche’s assertion, If God can make us desire, I undoubtedly believed that he can also make our consciousness know the own soul of a human being.

      Moreover, the philosophy “Vision of God” focused on the things in terms of having a relationship with God by contacting Him. When it comes to a contact between you and God, this is our chance to say the things we experienced the whole day. We should be able to say our personal thoughts and musing. The reason why we should do all these things is because He is the only one we can always depend on.

 

Conclusion

       For me, the philosophical perspective or view of Malebranche is still applicable to our times. It can be used in some situations in our lives. Why? The reason is that it is Bible based and everything that are written in the Bible has something to do with the salvation of mankind. His philosophical views make us wonder about how are we going to deal with the things that cannot be perceived which can be known as spiritual things.

 

Eli John F. Fajilagot

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