Malebranche e le verità eterne: onnipotenza, univocità, teodicea

This article analyses the role played by the Cartesian theory of eternal truths in Malebranche’s thought. It aims both to underline the reasons that led Malebranche to criticize Descartes’ doctrine and to analyze how this opposition played a key role in the development of his own reflection. Malebranche denied the assumptions of Descartes’ theory to avoid those that he believed were the epistemological consequences of the doctrine, namely, the contingence and fragility of human knowledge and the impossibility of establishing a stable relation between God and man. Besides, Malebranche’s approach is required to lay the groundwork for his theodicy: the indifference of Cartesian God, in fact, would never let Malebranche investigate God’s reasons in order to justify his actions. Thus, the article shows that the refusal of Cartesian theory represents one of the conditions of possibility of Malebranche’s reflection