occasionalism

noun

oc·​ca·​sion·​al·​ism

-zhənᵊlˌizəm,

-zhnəˌli-

plural -s

: a doctrine held by the Cartesian philosophers Geulincx and Malebranche that mind and matter are inherently incapable of affecting each other and that their apparent reciprocal action must therefore be due to the intervention of God who on the occasion of a change in one produces a corresponding change in the other compare occasional cause

Word History

Etymology

International Scientific Vocabulary occasional entry 1 + -ism

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