Louis de La Forge and the ‘Non-Transfer Argument’ for Occasionalism.

In this paper, I investigate Louis de La Forge's argument against body–body causation. His general strategy exploits the impossibility of bodies communicating their movement by transfer of motion. I call this the ‘non-transfer’ argument (NT). NT allows La Forge both to reinterpret continuous creatio...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Publicado en:British Journal for the History of Philosophy Vol. 22; no. 1; pp. 60 - 81
Autor principal: Sangiacomo, Andrea
Formato: Artículo
Publicado: Taylor & Francis Ltd Jan2014
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Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
Descripción
Sumario:In this paper, I investigate Louis de La Forge's argument against body–body causation. His general strategy exploits the impossibility of bodies communicating their movement by transfer of motion. I call this the ‘non-transfer’ argument (NT). NT allows La Forge both to reinterpret continuous creation in an occasionalistic fashion and to support his non-occasionalistic view concerning mind–body union. First, I present how NT emerges in Descartes’ own texts. Second, I show how La Forge recasts it to draw an occasionalistic account of body–body interactions, and I discuss how La Forge supports NT with continuous creation. Third, I conclude by suggesting that this further step of his argument does not undermine his non-occasionalistic account of mind–body union.