“Le moyen de passer de la foi à l’intelligence”: la condition humaine et le travail de la méditation chez Malebranche

This article deals with the question of the relationship between reason and faith in Malebranche. In "The Search after Truth", the Oratorian suggests that there is a common basis for both domains but, in his first work, he insists rather on the separation of reason and faith, whereas in later texts he stresses the continuity and harmony between the two orders. In analyzing certain passages in these works, we thematize the idea that one can pass from faith to intelligence and we show that this effort to clarify the truths of faith reveals feelings and human states, such as the fatigue caused by the hard work of meditation. We then examine the Malebranchian interpretation of the mystery of the Trinity, which is enlightening in terms of understanding the problematic situation of the postlapsarian man. We thus show how Malebranche uses an incomprehensible mystery to progress in the knowledge of human nature. Under these conditions, we pass from an effort to understand, through intelligence, that which we believe by faith, to another kind of labour: that of understanding the human condition through the mysteries of the faith which are partially illuminated by intelligence.