occasionalism
1
9.9
- noun
- /əˈkeɪʒənəlɪzəm/
- Specialized
- Occasionalism asserts that God is the sole true cause of all events, with everything else merely providing the occasion for divine action.
Examples
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You have a much better case with Islam, which fell victim to the occasionalism of the Ash'ari aqida, esp. al-Ghazali.
Blog text (19) -
We can perhaps best approach the problems which Leibniz faces in justifying his commitment to (1) and (2) by comparing his position with Malebranche's occasionalism.
Academic text (1998) -
Certain versions are little better than occasionalism.
Blog text (16) -
If anything, you only help to strengthen the case against the various strains of theistic personalism, occasionalism, and general onto-theology that I am attacking.
Blog text (16) -
What Clatterborough's suggestion shows is that debates about causation, such as those indulged in by advocates of Descartes's occasionalism, ultimately raise the question of what sorts of explanation he allows.
Academic text (1996) -
If anything, you only help to strengthen the case against the various strains of theistic personalism, occasionalism, and general onto-theology that I am attacking. (rank sophist)
Blog text (16) -
Occasionalism argues that only God can initiate actions in the universe according to its proponents.
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According to occasionalism, natural events do not cause effects on their own; instead, they serve as occasions for God's influence.
Surface Forms
Morphology
occasionalism = occasional (semi-transparent) = occasion + al + ism
Formed by adding the doctrine-forming suffix '-ism' to 'occasional'; the morphological formation is clear but the resulting sense is a specialized philosophical doctrine not directly inferable by an average learner.
Etymology
Occasionalism comes from occasion ('a time when something happens') and the ending -ism ('a belief'). So, it is the belief that events are only 'occasions' for God to act, which explains why occasionalism says created things are only occasions for God's action.