Geulincx, Arnold [key], 1624–69, Flemish Cartesian philosopher, b. Antwerp. One of the founders of occasionalism, 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).
See H. J. de Vleeschauwer, Three Centuries of Geulincx Research (1957).
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