Three general accounts of causation stand out in early modern philosophy: Cartesian interactionism, occasionalism, and Leibniz's preestablished harmony. The contributors to this volume examine these theories in their philosophical and historical context. They address them both as a means for answering specific questions regarding causal relations and in their relation to one another, in particular, comparing occasionalism and the preestablished harmony as responses to Descartes's metaphysics and physics and the Cartesian account of causation. Philosophers discussed include Descartes, Gassendi, Malebranche, Arnauld, Leibniz, Bayle, La Forge, and other, less well-known figures.ContentsSteven Nadler IntroductionDaniel Garber Descartes and OccasionalismEileen O'Neill Influxus PhysicusSteven Nadler The Occasionalism of Louis de la ForgeRichard A. Watson Malebranche, Models, and CausationMark A. Kulstad Causation and Preestablished Harmony in the Early Development of Leibniz's PhilosophyMargaret D. Wilson Compossibility and LawDonald P. Rutherford Natures, Laws, and Miracles: The Roots of Leibniz's Critique of OccasionalismCatherine Wilson Constancy, Emergence, and Illusions: Obstacles to Naturalistic Theories of VisionThomas M. Lennon Mechanism as a Silly Mouse: Bayle's Defense of Occasionalism Against the Preestablished HarmonyLois Frankel The Value of Harmony