Pascal the Philosopher: An Introduction

Description

Blaise Pascal has always been appreciated as a literary giant and a religious guide, but has received only grudging recognition as a philosopher: philosophers have mistaken Pascal s harsh criticism of their discipline as a rejection of it. But according to Graeme Hunter, Pascal s critics have simply failed to grasp his lean, but powerful conception of philosophy. This accessibly written book provides the first introduction to Pascal s philosophy as an organic whole. Hunter argues that Pascal s aim is not merely to humble philosophy, but to save it from a kind of failure to which it is prone. He lays out Pascal s development of a more promising and fruitful path for philosophical inquiry, one that responded to the scientific, religious, and political upheaval of his time. Finally, Hunter illuminates Pascal s significance for contemporary readers, allowing him to emerge as the rare philosopher who is spiritual, literary, and rigorous all at once both a brilliant controversialist and a thinker of substance."