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Attribute #44 Occasionalism
Al-Ghazali, Malebranche, Geulincx
Time · Extent Finite
Time · Ontological Status Emergent
Time · Grain Discrete
Time · Freedom Deterministic
Time · Traversability Linear
Time · Dimensionality One
Time · Direction Uni-directional
Space · Extent Finite
Space · Ontological Status Emergent
Space · Curvature Flat
Space · Dimensionality Three
Space · Locality Local
Matter · Extent Finite
Matter · Ontological Status Emergent
Matter · Conservation Non-conserved
Matter · Dimensionality Three
Matter · Locality Local
Observer · Time Instance Single
Observer · Space Instance Single
Observer · Knowledge Extent Immediate
Observer · Knowledge Retainment Total
Observer · Physicality Both
Observer · Agency Passive
Observer · Number Plural
Energy · Extent Finite
Energy · Ontological Status Emergent
Energy · Conservation Non-conserved
Energy · Dispersibility Irreversible
Information · Ontological Status Emergent
Information · Conservation Non-conserved
Information · Granularity Continuous
Observer Analysis (Full Text)
Occasionalism The observer is a creature — both body and soul — situated at a single point in time and space, but radically dependent on God for every perception, thought, and act. No created thing truly causes anything; what appears as causation is God's continuous, moment-by-moment intervention. The observer's knowledge is immediate and mediated by divine action: God produces each perception in the soul on the occasion of corresponding physical events. Yet through God's faithful regularity, knowledge accumulates in an orderly way. The observer is passive in the deepest sense — not merely receiving impressions but dependent on God even for the capacity to receive them. Multiple observers exist, each sustained by the same divine activity.