Sergeant Versus Le Grand on Forms and Causal Power

This chapter studies the debate over substantial form and causal power between John Sergeant and Antoine Le Grand. While both authors can be found to make claims to the effect that material substances are matter-form compounds endowed with causal powers to produce certain effects, Sergeant argues that occasionalism and voluntarism in Le Grand effectively strip bodies of all forms and powers worthy of the name. This outcome is problematic for at least two reasons, according to Sergeant. First, it is hard to see how a world of material substances deprived of causal power could be the creation of a wise and good maker. Secondly, once material substances are stripped of all forms and powers, it becomes a mystery why they play the causal roles they do. Le Grand often suggests that bodies play the causal roles they do because of their particulate make-up, or that bodies behave the way they do because of the size, shape, and arrangement of their particles. However, according to Sergeant, this suggestion is inconsistent with Le Grand’s occasionalism and voluntarism, which jointly undermine any connection between the inner constitution of material substances, on the one hand, and their causal profiles on the other.