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Great shorter works of Pascal
English, French (translation)
- GenresPhilosophy
231 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1948
About the author
Blaise Pascal
1,513 books856 followersEarly work of Blaise Pascal of France included the invention of the adding machine and syringe and the co-development with Pierre de Fermat of the mathematical theory of probability; later, he, a Jansenist, wrote on philosophy and theology, notably as collected in the posthumous
Pensées
(1670).
This contemporary of René Descartes attained ten years of age in 1633, when people forced Galileo Galilei to recant his belief that Earth circled the Sun. He lived in Paris at the same time, when Thomas Hobbes in 1640 published his famous Leviathan (1651). Together, Pascal created the calculus.
A near-fatal carriage accident in November 1654 persuaded him to turn his intellect finally toward religion. The story goes that on the proverbial dark and stormy night, while Pascal rode in a carriage across a bridge in a suburb of Paris, a fright caused the horses to bolt, sending them over the edge. The carriage, bearing Pascal, survived. Pascal took the incident as a sign and devoted. At this time, he began a series, called the Provincial Letters , against the Jesuits in 1657.
Pascal perhaps most famously wagered not as clearly in his language as this summary: "If Jesus does not exist, the non Christian loses little by believing in him and gains little by not believing. If Jesus does exist, the non Christian gains eternal life by believing and loses an infinite good by not believing.”
Sick throughout life, Pascal died in Paris from a combination of tuberculosis and stomach cancer at 39 years of age. At the last, he confessed Catholicism.
This contemporary of René Descartes attained ten years of age in 1633, when people forced Galileo Galilei to recant his belief that Earth circled the Sun. He lived in Paris at the same time, when Thomas Hobbes in 1640 published his famous Leviathan (1651). Together, Pascal created the calculus.
A near-fatal carriage accident in November 1654 persuaded him to turn his intellect finally toward religion. The story goes that on the proverbial dark and stormy night, while Pascal rode in a carriage across a bridge in a suburb of Paris, a fright caused the horses to bolt, sending them over the edge. The carriage, bearing Pascal, survived. Pascal took the incident as a sign and devoted. At this time, he began a series, called the Provincial Letters , against the Jesuits in 1657.
Pascal perhaps most famously wagered not as clearly in his language as this summary: "If Jesus does not exist, the non Christian loses little by believing in him and gains little by not believing. If Jesus does exist, the non Christian gains eternal life by believing and loses an infinite good by not believing.”
Sick throughout life, Pascal died in Paris from a combination of tuberculosis and stomach cancer at 39 years of age. At the last, he confessed Catholicism.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
October 10, 2024
EXCERPTS FROM VARIOUS LETTERS, AND SOME OTHER WRITINGS
Blaise Pascal (1623-1662) was a French mathematician, physicist, inventor, writer and Christian philosopher. In 1646, he identified with the Catholic movement known as "Jansenism," and defended it in his 'Provincial Letters.' His most famous book, however, is his 'Pensees' [“Thoughts”].
He asks, “how is it possible to conclude infallibly that the nature of light is such that it can exist in a vacuum, when we are ignorant of the nature of light. If our knowledge of it were as great as our ignorance of it, we might perhaps know that it would exist in a vacuum with greater brilliance than in any other MEDIUM, since we see that its power increases as the medium in which it is becomes more rarefied, and as in some manner the medium approaches nothingness… Let us not, I beg of you, draw infallible conclusions from the nature of a thing when we are ignorant of it.” (Pg. 44-45)
He admits, “For if we desire to give complete assurance about matters which are most incomprehensible to reason, we need merely point to them in sacred books (similarly, when we wish to call attention to the uncertainty of the most plausible things, we need merely point out that they are not contained in these books). This is because these principles transcend nature and reason, and since the human mind is too feeble to arrive by its own efforts, it cannot attain such high understanding if it is not carried aloft by a force which is omnipotent and supernatural.” (Pg. 51)
He points out, “a harmful and common error among Christians and even among those who profess piety lies in persuading themselves that there is a certain degree of perfection in which one is secure, and that it is unnecessary to go beyond this, since there is no wrong in stopping there, and since one may risk falling by ascending higher…” (Pg. 79)
In a short work, he laments, “[At the time of the birth of the Church] we saw only Christians perfected in all matters necessary to salvation. Today, however, we see such crude ignorance that it causes all those to groan who have feelings of tenderness for the Church. In those days people entered the Church only after great toil and long desire. Today people find themselves there without any trouble, without any care and without any toil.” (Pg. 156-157)
He makes the significant [pre-Vatican I, to be sure] statement, “beyond all doubt, if we accept the Pope as infallible, we must necessarily acknowledge ourselves to be his slaves or else pass for heretics, since we would be resisting his infallible authority. Moreover, the Church has never recognized this infallibility in the Pope, but only in the universal council to which unjust decisions of the Popes have always been appealed.” (Pg. 167)
For anyone interested in Pascal, this relatively short book includes a great deal of material of interest.
Blaise Pascal (1623-1662) was a French mathematician, physicist, inventor, writer and Christian philosopher. In 1646, he identified with the Catholic movement known as "Jansenism," and defended it in his 'Provincial Letters.' His most famous book, however, is his 'Pensees' [“Thoughts”].
He asks, “how is it possible to conclude infallibly that the nature of light is such that it can exist in a vacuum, when we are ignorant of the nature of light. If our knowledge of it were as great as our ignorance of it, we might perhaps know that it would exist in a vacuum with greater brilliance than in any other MEDIUM, since we see that its power increases as the medium in which it is becomes more rarefied, and as in some manner the medium approaches nothingness… Let us not, I beg of you, draw infallible conclusions from the nature of a thing when we are ignorant of it.” (Pg. 44-45)
He admits, “For if we desire to give complete assurance about matters which are most incomprehensible to reason, we need merely point to them in sacred books (similarly, when we wish to call attention to the uncertainty of the most plausible things, we need merely point out that they are not contained in these books). This is because these principles transcend nature and reason, and since the human mind is too feeble to arrive by its own efforts, it cannot attain such high understanding if it is not carried aloft by a force which is omnipotent and supernatural.” (Pg. 51)
He points out, “a harmful and common error among Christians and even among those who profess piety lies in persuading themselves that there is a certain degree of perfection in which one is secure, and that it is unnecessary to go beyond this, since there is no wrong in stopping there, and since one may risk falling by ascending higher…” (Pg. 79)
In a short work, he laments, “[At the time of the birth of the Church] we saw only Christians perfected in all matters necessary to salvation. Today, however, we see such crude ignorance that it causes all those to groan who have feelings of tenderness for the Church. In those days people entered the Church only after great toil and long desire. Today people find themselves there without any trouble, without any care and without any toil.” (Pg. 156-157)
He makes the significant [pre-Vatican I, to be sure] statement, “beyond all doubt, if we accept the Pope as infallible, we must necessarily acknowledge ourselves to be his slaves or else pass for heretics, since we would be resisting his infallible authority. Moreover, the Church has never recognized this infallibility in the Pope, but only in the universal council to which unjust decisions of the Popes have always been appealed.” (Pg. 167)
For anyone interested in Pascal, this relatively short book includes a great deal of material of interest.
March 6, 2018
It's just one of the books that I had to read for my thesis, but it ended up as something that I find necessary to go back to repeatedly, to bring it into reflection and even in prayer. Pascal, I believe, is one of the figures in the history of thought (and that of the Church, mind you) that needs to be paid attention to.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews