Geulincx, Arnold (gö`lĭngks), 1624–69, Flemish Cartesian philosopher, b. Antwerp. One of the founders of occasionalism occasionalism, metaphysical doctrine that denies that finite things have any active power and asserts that God is the only cause, whereas physical events and mental states are only occasions for God's action. Muslim theologians in the 8th cent.
..... Click the link for more information. , his philosophy is characterized by a curious blending of rationalism and mysticism. Arguing that God is the sole active power, he denied any real interaction between finite things, which serve merely as "occasional causes." He explained the relationship between mind and body by the analogy of two clocks that are synchronized by God at each instant. Although there is no interaction, there is a continual harmony between them. His principal works, which appeared posthumously, were Ethica (1675) and Metaphysica vera (1691).

Bibliography

See H. J. de Vleeschauwer, Three Centuries of Geulincx Research (1957).

Geulincx, Arnold

known as Philaretus

(born Jan. 31, 1624, Antwerp, Spanish Netherlands—died November 1669, Leiden, Neth.) Flemish metaphysician and logician. He taught at the University of Louvain from 1646 but was dismissed in 1658, probably because of his sympathy with Jansenism. He took refuge at Leiden, where he became a Calvinist. He lived in poverty until 1662, when he obtained a position at the University of Leiden. He was a major exponent of the doctrine known as occasionalism. His major works include On Virtue (1665), Know Thyself (1675), and True Metaphysics (1691).