This paper argues that mechanism, occasionalism and finality (the acceptance of final causes) can be and were de facto integrated into a coherent system of natural philosophy by Johann Christoph Sturm (1635–1703). Previous scholarship has left the relation between these three elements understudied. According to Sturm, mechanism, occasionalism and finality can count as explanatorily useful elements of natural philosophy, and they might go some way to dealing with the problem of living beings. Occasionalism, in particular, serves a unifying ground: It will be shown that occasionalism can account for the problems of the source and transmission of motion that mechanism faces, while at the same time explaining the finality of non-rational living beings as designed by God.

本文认为，约翰·克里斯托夫·斯图姆（Johann Christoph Sturm，1635-1703 年）可以并且已经事实上将机制、偶然性和终结性（对最终原因的接受）整合到一个连贯的自然哲学系统中。以前的学术研究未充分研究这三个要素之间的关系。根据 Sturm 的说法，机制、偶然性和终结性可以算作自然哲学的解释性有用元素，它们可能在某种程度上处理生物问题。偶然论尤其具有统一的基础：将表明偶然论可以解释机械所面临的运动来源和传​​递问题，同时解释上帝设计的非理性生物的终结性.