Book Description

"The most profound and unexhausted books will probably always have something of the aphoristic and sudden character of Pascal's Pensées. The driving forces and valuations are long under the surface; what emerges is effect." Nietzsche, The Will to Power, Part II, 1884 In Reflections (Pensées), Pascal critiques what Carl Jung called "pure Cartesian Rationalism"; rational skepticism as the basis of all knowledge and the inadequacies of secular philosophy. Pascal, who was in lifelong discussions with his contemporary Descartes, rejects the idea that human reason alone can achieve certainty, especially when it comes to metaphysical and theological questions. Instead, he insists that true knowledge of God and the self comes through divine revelation and faith. Pascal's skepticism is directed at the assumption that reason can answer life's most profound questions, making Pensées both a defense of Jansenism and a critique of the nascent Enlightenment rationalism, which relied on a simplistic interpretation of Descartes. After his death, the first edition was organized by his friends Arnauld and Nicole, and although they were compelled to treat the text with great reverence and fear the Jesuits, who could not tolerate the attack of the Provinciales, induced them to make some flattening corrections that were not offensive. This collection was first published in 1678. A century later, when Voltaire and the encyclopedists ruled France, the latter published the Pensées according to a skillful arrangement by Condorcet and accompanied them with frivolous annotations. This edition here contains Voltaire's annotations in-line with the rest of the text originally published in Les Extraits des Pensées de Pascal. The text is organized topically according to Henreich Hesse’s 1844 version. Here, we render his most important work Pensées as “Reflections”, not "Thoughts" as it often has been translated into English. This is more thematic, highlighting the introspective nature of the text. "Thoughts" does not do justice to the meditative nature of the text, and "Meditations" reminds one of that Stoic philosopher a bit too much. The aim here is to be accurate and true to the text but always in relationship to the philosophical milieu of the modern reader. First published posthumously in 1670, the Pensées, though an unfinished work, stands as one of the most influential and profound contributions to both Christian apologetics and philosophy. The central theme of the Pensées is the tension between faith and reason. Pascal, a devout Jansenist, argued that while reason has its place in human life, it is insufficient to grasp ultimate truths about existence, God, and salvation. He portrays man as caught between two extremes: greatness and wretchedness. Our greatness lies in our ability to think, but our wretchedness stems from our separation from God through sin. This dual nature leads people to distraction and diversion as they try to avoid confronting their existential despair. A new translation of Pascal's most influential publication Pensées contains a new Afterword by the translator on Pascal's personal relationship with Descartes and his intellectual objections to the new Cartesian rationality which fundamentally changed the course of both Science and Philosophy, a short biography on Pascal's life and impact. This is followed by a timeline of his life and relationships, an index of his core Philosophic terminology, a chronological list and summary of all of his published and posthumous works, and the text of Pascal's Memorial, a poetic, fragmented account of his divine vision in 1654. This is volume 7 of the 7-part Complete Works of Pascal by Livraria Press. This volume covers Pascal’s groundbreaking contributions to mathematics, science, and engineering, as well as his Scientific-Philosophical commentary on the Enlightenment's Scientific progress.