Book Description
"I know of no religious writer more pertinent to our time."—T. S. Eliot, Introduction to Pensées
Intended to prove that religion is not contrary to reason, Pascal's Pensées rank among the liveliest and most eloquent defenses of Christianity. Motivated by the seventeenth-century view of the supremacy of human reason, Pascal (1623–1662) had intended to write an ambitious apologia for Christianity in which he argued the inability of reason to address metaphysical problems. His untimely death prevented the work's completion, but the fragments published posthumously in 1670 as Pensées remain a vital part of religious and philosophical literature. W. F. Trotter translation. Introduction by T. S. Eliot.

ANNOTATION

Showing traces of Augustinian influence, Pascal explores the naute of religious truth and the nautre of man.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

"Men despise religion. They hate it and are afraid it may be true," declared Pascal in his Pensees. "The cure for this," he explained, "is first to show that religion is not contrary to reason, but worthy of reverence and respect. Next make it attractive, make good men wish it were true, and then show that it is." Motivated by the seventeenth-century view of the supremacy of human reason, Pascal (1623-1662) had intended to write an ambitious apologia for Christianity, in which he argued the inability of reason to address metaphysical problems. His untimely death prevented the work's completion, but the fragments published posthumously in 1670 as Pensees remain a vital part of religious and philosophical literature. Essential reading for students of history, philosophy, and theology, the Pensees remain among the liveliest and most eloquent defenses of Christianity ever written.

SYNOPSIS

French scientist and philosopher Pascal's writings on religion were discovered after his death in 1662 and arranged into this text, the Penseées (or "Thoughts"). The writings are a defense of his Jansenist Christianity and an attack on the ability of reason to answer the most fundamental problems of metaphysics. An introduction by poet T.S. Eliot offers a brief intellectual biography of Pascal and commends his defense of religious belief. This is a paperbound reproduction of the original 1958 Trotter translation. Other editions of this work are cited in Books for College Libraries, 3rd ed. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

FROM THE CRITICS

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