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3Spinoza's Monism and the Reality Of The FiniteIn Philip Goff (ed.), Spinoza on Monism, Palgrave-macmillan. 2012.
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1Occasionalism and the mind-body problemIn M. A. Stewart (ed.), Studies in Seventeenth-Century European Philosophy, Clarendon Press. 1997.
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Dualism and occasionalism: Arnauld and the development of Cartesian metaphysicsRevue Internationale de Philosophie 48 (190): 421-439. 1994.
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15Descartes et Cervantes : le malin génie et la folie de Don QuichotteLaval Théologique et Philosophique 53 (3): 605-616. 1997.
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17Probability and Truth in the ApologyPhilosophy and Literature 9 (2): 198-202. 1985.This article is a reply to an earlier piece by kenneth seeskin (philosophy and literature, 1982). I argue that socrates' defense is more of a parody of gorgian rhetoric than seeskin is willing to allow. They key lies in socrates' use of rhetoric to persuade the beliefs of the athenian jurors by means of probabilities. When replying to the expressed pretexts of the trial, He uses "base" rhetoric; when finally attending to the real reasons behind his accusations, He resorts to "the truth about his…Read more
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45Spinoza, Liberalism, and the Question of Jewish Identity (review)Journal of the History of Philosophy 36 (2): 321-322. 1998.In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Reviewed by:Spinoza, Liberalism, and the Question of Jewish Identity by Steven B. SmithSteven NadlerSteven B. Smith. Spinoza, Liberalism, and the Question of Jewish Identity. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1997. Pp. xvii + 270. Cloth, $30.00.Steven B. Smith’s aim in this elegant, well-written book is to restore Spinoza to his important and rightful place in the history of political and religious thought. At the heart of the book i…Read more
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18Descartes and Augustine (review)Journal of the History of Philosophy 36 (4): 625-627. 1998.In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Reviewed by:Descartes and Augustine by Stephen MennSteven NadlerStephen Menn. Descartes and Augustine. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1998. Pp. xvi + 415. Cloth, $74.95.As most readers of this journal well know, scholars in the history of philosophy can, however roughly, be divided into two distinct (and sometimes antagonistic) camps: those who think that work on the great philosophers of the past should focus almost exclusive…Read more
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55Descartes's Demon and the Madness of Don QuixoteJournal of the History of Ideas 58 (1): 41-55. 1997.In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Descartes’s Demon and the Madness of Don QuixoteSteven NadlerDescartes’s “malicious demon” (genius malignus, le mauvais génie)—the evil deceiver of the Meditations on First Philosophy whose hypothetical existence threatens to undermine radically Descartes’s confidence in his cognitive f aculties—is an artful philosophical and literary device. There is considerable debate over the significance of this powerful and malevolent being wit…Read more
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186Occasionalism and general will in MalebrancheJournal of the History of Philosophy 31 (1): 31-47. 1993.This paper examines a common misreading of the mechanics of Malebranche's doctrine of divine causal agency, occasionalism, and its roots in a related misreading of Malebranche's theories. God, contrary to this misreading, is for Malebranche constantly and actively causally engaged in the world, and does not just establish certain laws of nature. The key is in understanding just what Malebranche means by general volitions'
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81Scientific Certainty and the Creation of the Eternal Truths: A Problem in DescartesSouthern Journal of Philosophy 25 (2): 175-192. 2010.
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80Cordemoy and occasionalismJournal of the History of Philosophy 43 (1): 37-54. 2005.This is an examination of the nature and extent of Cordemoy's commitment to the doctrine of occasionalism
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4Whatever is, is God" : substance and things in Spinoza's metaphysicsIn Charles Huenemann (ed.), Interpreting Spinoza: Critical Essays, Cambridge University Press. 2008.
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18Malebranche and the Vision in God: A Note on The Search After Truth, III, 2, iiiJournal of the History of Ideas 52 (2): 309-314. 1991.
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3Spinoza as a Jewish Philosopher: A test caseStudia Spinozana: An International and Interdisciplinary Series 13 64-80. 1997.
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58Arnauld’s GodJournal of the History of Philosophy 46 (4). 2008.In this paper, I argue that Arnauld’s conception of God is more radical than scholars have been willing to allow. It is not the case that, for Arnauld, God acts for reasons, with His will guided by wisdom (much as the God of Malebranche and Leibniz acts), albeit by a wisdom impenetrable to us. Arnauld’s objections to Malebranche are directed not only at the claim that God’s wisdom is transparent to human reason, but at the whole distinction between will and wisdom in God, even if that wisdom wer…Read more
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The Occasionalism of Louis de la ForgeIn Causation in Early Modern Philosophy, Pennsylvania State University Press. pp. 57--73. 1993.
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1Intentionality in the Arnauld-Malebranche DebateIn Phillip D. Cummins & Guenter Zoeller (eds.), Minds, Ideas, and Objects: Essays in the Theory of Representation in Modern Philosophy, Ridgeview Publishing Company. 1992.
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9Oxford Studies in Early Modern Philosophy Volume 3 (edited book)Clarendon Press. 2006.Oxford University Press is proud to present the third volume in a new annual series, presenting a selection of the best current work in the history of philosophy. Oxford Studies in Early Modern Philosophy focuses on the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries---the extraordinary period of intellectual flourishing that begins, very roughly, with Descartes and his contemporaries and ends with Kant. It also publishes papers on thinkers or movements outside of that framework, provided they are importan…Read more
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4The Cambridge companion to Malebranche (edited book)Cambridge University Press. 2000.The French philosopher and theologian Nicolas Malebranche was one of the most important thinkers of the early modern period. A bold and unorthodox thinker, he tried to synthesize the new philosophy of Descartes with religious Platonism. This is the first collection of essays to address Malebranche's thought comprehensively and systematically. There are chapters devoted to Malebranche's metaphysics, his doctrine of the soul, his epistemology, the celebrated debate with Arnauld, his philosophical …Read more
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22Representational Ideas: From Plato to Patricia ChurchlandJournal of the History of Philosophy 35 (3): 477-480. 1997.
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5Oxford Studies in Early Modern Philosophy: Volume I (edited book)Oxford University Press UK. 2003.Oxford University Press is proud to announce an annual volume presenting a selection of the best new work in the history of philosophy.Oxford Studies in Early Modern Philosophy will focus on the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries - the period that begins, very roughly, with Descartes and his contemporaries and ends with Kant. It will also publish papers on thinkers or movements outside of that framework, provided they are important in illuminating early modern thought. The core of the subject …Read more
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9Descartes and Augustine (review)Journal of the History of Philosophy 36 (4): 625-627. 1998.In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Reviewed by:Descartes and Augustine by Stephen MennSteven NadlerStephen Menn. Descartes and Augustine. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1998. Pp. xvi + 415. Cloth, $74.95.As most readers of this journal well know, scholars in the history of philosophy can, however roughly, be divided into two distinct (and sometimes antagonistic) camps: those who think that work on the great philosophers of the past should focus almost exclusive…Read more
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22Deux cartesiens: La polemique Arnauld Malebranche (review)Journal of the History of Philosophy 38 (4): 595-597. 2000.In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Reviewed by:Deux cartésiens: La polémique Arnauld MalebrancheSteven NadlerDenis Moreau. Deux cartésiens: La polémique Arnauld Malebranche. Paris: J. Vrin, 1999. Pp. 353. NP.The Arnauld-Malebranche debate is one of the great intellectual events of the seventeenth-century. Taking place over an eleven-year time span, and brought to a conclusion only by Arnauld's death, the debate ranged over a wide variety of philosophical and theologic…Read more
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42Spinoza's heresy: immortality and the Jewish mindOxford University Press. 2001.Why was the great philosopher Spinoza expelled from his Portuguese-Jewish community in Amsterdam? Nadler's investigation of this simple question gives fascinating new perspectives on Spinoza's thought and the Jewish religious and philosophical tradition from which it arose.
Madison, Wisconsin, United States of America
Areas of Interest
Medieval and Renaissance Philosophy |
17th/18th Century Philosophy |