ABSTRACT. Castoriadis points out that the societal institution determines, in each instance, what is or is not real for that society. Each society contains a system for interpreting the world, is a system for interpreting the world, and is the creation of a world that applies to it, its own world (its identity is that system of meaning-giving). Our analysis complements the growing literature on Descartes’s ontology of mind, his understanding of a real distinction between mind and body, and his distinction between volitions and passions in thinking substance. Our paper contributes to the literature by providing evidence on the role the general/particular volition distinction plays in Malebranche’s theodicy, his continuous creation argument for occasionalism, and his concept of God’s general volition. pp. 168–173

Keywords: societal institution, moral conflict, God, world