Hi, I'm Peter Adamson, and you're listening to the History of Philosophy podcast, brought to with the support of the Philosophy Department at King's College,

London, and the LMU in Munich. Online at History of Philosophy.net. Today's episode,

No Particular Reason, Nicola Malebranche. Despite their shared names, there are a lot of

differences between the sport that Americans

call soccer and the rest of the world calls football, and the sport that Americans call football

and the rest of the world largely ignores.

The name notwithstanding, American football is mostly played with the hands, and the so-called

ball isn't even spherical, so that doesn't exactly speak in its favor.

On the other hand, when tackled with enough force to total a small car, American football players

make a point of bouncing to their feet as if nothing has happened, whereas soccer players

famously collapse and writhe on the ground at the merest caress of an opposing player.

One thing the sports do have in common is the way many players react to success on the field.

You'll often see them celebrate scoring a touchdown or goal by pointing to the sky,

giving both thanks and credit to God.

I can't be the first person to wonder what Nicola Malebantz would make of this.

At first, you might think he would approve, because he was famously an occasionalist,

meaning that he thought all worldly events are caused by God.

In fact, he might say you should point to the sky after successfully making breakfast,

or even successfully twitching your finger, because no matter what

you managed to do, it is really God doing it. And of course, if you did point to the sky, it would

really be God doing that too. But I think Maile Branche would in fact strongly disapprove. He

categorically denied that God performs arbitrary actions, like favoring just one player in a game with a touchdown

...