Pascal: the Pensées, the Wager, the Spirit of Finesse, and the Misery and Greatness of Man
In a life of thirty-nine years, Blaise Pascal (1623–1662) contributed to projective geometry and the theory of probability, carried out decisive experiments on the vacuum and atmospheric pressure, invented a calculating machine, wrote a polemical work that shaped French prose, the Provincial Letters, and left the fragments of an apology for the Christian religion that he never completed and that posterity knows as the Pensées (“Thoughts”). He is hard to classify: a scientist who limits the reach of scientific reason, a Jansenist Christian who uses arguments from probability, a writer who distrusts rhetoric. This article covers his biography, the central themes of the Pensées, and the reception of the work. The profile of Blaise Pascal gives a summary; the aim here is to go deeper. ...