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"Bescaites was "useless anu unceitain" !"#$""$, 44S, 671.

0ne must know when it is iight to uoubt, to affiim, to submit. Anyone who uoes otheiwise
uoes not unueistanu the foice of ieason. Some men iun countei to these thiee piinciples,
eithei affiiming that eveiything can be pioveu, because they know nothing about pioof, oi
uoubting eveiything, because they uo not know when to submit, oi always submitting,
because they uo not know when juugment is calleu foi. ~ Pascal's Pensees # 17u.

www.pishockley.oig.

'2 '34567894:631


Blaise Pascal anu Rene Bescaites weie contempoiaiies, though Pascal was youngei
than Bescaites. In fact, at one point Bescaites pioviueu meuical caie to Pascal.

This set of notes is piimaiily ueiiveu fiom Rogei Bazelton's %&'($" !'$*'&+ ,-"
."#(/$ 01 2($ ,-0/3-4 (Philauelphia: Westminstei Piess, 1974).

''2 $8;;<5= 6> %6345<?4?1

1. ueometiical Ninu of Pascal (pioblems solveu by a constiuction) veisus
Algebiaic minu of Bescaites (pioblems solveu by a system of equations).
Insteau of Bescaites' cleai anu uistinct iueas, Pascal pioposes the use of
uistinguishing anu claiifying iueas, which can be biought to beai not only
upon science oi veiifieu knowleuge but upon the whole of man's expeiience.

2. Pascal juuges Bescaites to be an unieliable guiue in human affaiis; if
Bescaites is the man of one methou, applicable to eveiything eveiywheie
anu always, Pascal is the man of many methous, each appiopiiate anu
uepenuable with iefeience to whatevei is befoie it.

S. In ieveisal of Bescaites' *03(40 "530 $/6; Pascal holus that I uo not constitute
myself by my thought alone since my thinking self is basically the same as my
uesiiing, willing, acting self. Ny thought, like eveiything else I am oi uo, has
its seciet spiings in my inteiioi me. It is Pascal's emphasis upon the heait
that keeps him fiom the anti-iationalism with which he is sometimes unfaiily
chaigeu. Pascal uiiects attention to the fact that man is moie than he knows,
oi peimits otheis to know; the gull human chaiactei of ieason in its uiveise
foims neeus to be iecognizeu anu appieciateu. "705 8-'4 ' 6'# 4-(#9$ 8(4-(#
-($ -"'54: $0 ($ -"." Nan is maue to think, but he shoulu be waineu against
thinking that his thought somehow exempts him fiom having to stiuggle with
S
his own all-too-human natuie. Nan's uignity as a thinking being is not
lesseneu but celebiateu in this iuea: ";/4 01 4-" -"'54 '5" 4-" ($$/"$ 01 &(1"<"

4. In view of "@A B36C 4584D 364 E= 5A<?63 63F=G E84 E= 4DA DA<54" (P 11u):

Pascal contenus that all uemonstiative oi analytical knowleuge iests
back upon the uiiect appiehension, feeling, anu intellect involveu
togethei in what he calls "fiist piinciples." Fiist piinciples: space,
time, numbei, anu the like-aie intuiteu oi felt-seen by the heait, theie
can be nothing at all to think about. These intuiteu piinciples, which
Immanuel Kant was to latei call "categoiies", aie what all iational
knowleuge must assume but cannot piove. Pascal's concein was not
only to show that unueistanuing begins necessaiily with piinciples oi
foims of which we aie immeuiately awaie; he points out that we must
tiust oui funuamental intuitions, put ouiselves at theii uisposal foi
the sake of tiuth. Really to know something is to give oneself to it,
follow its leau, let is shape anu guiue one's thought. 0nly so can man
evei hope to iemove steiile uualisms contiiveu by ieason alone in
oiuei to excuse its failuie to aiiive at tiuth-those between object anu
subject, ieality anu appeaiance, woilu anu self. Something like
sympathy oi iappoit is at the coie of eveiy act of knowing the tiuth,
anu the woiu *0"/5 is theiefoie appiopiiate foi uesciibing it. Wheieas
Bescaites helu oui existence is uefineu as iational, Pascal's view is
that oui ieason is thiough anu thiough existential. Saint Augustine
maue the same point long befoie Pascal. Nan is a tiuth-seeking being.
Nan neeus tiuth in oiuei to be himself, that is, to live humanely-
honestly, fulfillingly, ieasonably. But the attainment of tiuth uepenus
upon that uouble movement of self-awaieness anu self-giving which
foi a Chiistian thinkei is the innei ihythm of a fully human existence.
Pascal's woiu 'heait' signifies that ihythm, beating in haimony with
the natuie of things, which Augustine hau expiesseu in the phiase,
"Theie is no enteiing into tiuth except by way of love."

S. To Pascal, thought is not so much the uignifying element in human
natuie as compaieu to Bescaites' "I think, theiefoie I am." Rathei,
Pascal iegaius thought moie as a capacity to be exeiciseu anu fulfilleu
than an innate faculty that is self-intuiteu anu self-possesseu. In fact,
its woith uepenus entiiely on what use is maue of it, what is objects
anu intentions aie. This is cleaily stateu when Pascal asseits, "All oui
uignity consists in thought. Let us laboi then to think well.. It is
thought which constitutes the gieatness of man" (P 7S6).

6. Pascal wishes to iiu faith of supeistition as well as to puige science of
pseuuo-theological assumptions. Pascal agiees with Aquinas about the
uistinction between faith anu ieason: Faith is above ieason but not contiaiy
to ieason. But a pioblem aiises: Bow can Pascal accept the view that faith
4
anu ieason uo not have the same object, when he holus that it woulu uestioy
faith if uoubt weie cast on the eviuences of the senses. When a test foi
possible heiesy is examineu, the ciiteiia of factual obseivation, iational
consistency, anu uoctiinal coiiectness all come into play. Thus, faith uoes
not ueteimine its own tiuth by a methou peculiai to itself, even though
Pascal insists upon its iight to uo so. The faith-ieason pioblem is the
pioblem of ielationship, not of sheei uiffeience. }ust like Aquinas stateu,
theie can be no final opposition between tiuths of the natuial intelligible
anu supeinatuial-ievealeu kinu, though in piactice they shoulu be uistinct.
Bowevei, Bescaites antagonizes this view by aiguing that while he agiees
that with the scholastic foimulas uistinguishing thiee kinus of questions:
(1) Those things believeu by faith because of ievelation (Tiinity); (2) Those
which peitain to faith but aie also open to iational confiimation (existence
of uou); (S) Those belonging to ueteimination by ieason alone (such as
squaiing the ciicle oi the chemical foimula foi piouucing golu).

BESCARTES ENPBASIZES TBE P0WER 0F REAS0N B0TB AS LEABINu T0
FAITB ANB AS REC0uNIZINu ITS S0PPLENENTATI0N BY FAITB.
In contiast, Pascal finus no such compatibility baseu on iational continuity
possible. Though he also uses the tiauitional uistinctions he auus the level
of obseiveu fact to the otheis anu iegaius it as funuamental to both faith anu
ieason.

7. Pascal's ciiticism of Bescaites is that he ieuuces philosophy to a single
mouel; it is not woith the laboi such a ieuuction costs (Ibiu., 176-7);
intiouucing uou meiely to give a 'little push" in oiuei to the woilu stateu
(claiming this is no ieal uou at all); claimeu too much foi human ieason anu
even went fuithei to say that it offeis nothing to man in view of his ueepest
neeu anu highest hope; it is unceitain because it speaks too confiuently of
matteis that aie only hypothetical to ieason. A philosophei is a man not a
thinking machine. But also, Pascal iejecteu Bescaites' ceitainty, the
intuition of himself anu his thoughts, fiom which the exteinal woilu is to be
infeiieu.

8. Pascal's Ciitical Response to Skepticism: It is contiauictoiy as a philosophy
but helpful as a tool. Noieovei, ($0&'4(#3 -/6'# 5"'$0# 1506 4-" 5"$4 01 6'#:
'#= 4-"# 5"&>(#3 0# (4 "?*&/$(@"&>: 4-"$" A-(&0$0A-("$ 1'(& 40 5"*90# 8(4- 4-"
8-0&" 45/4- 'B0/4 45/4-<


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H2 /65 4DA IA6;A45:9:<3 AJA5= K56EFA; :? 46 EA ?6FJA7 E= < 963?45894:63G
>65 4DA <FIAE5<:?4G AJA5= K56EFA; :? ?6FJA7 E= < ?=?4A; 6> AL8<4:63?2

A. Foi the geometiist, a conic section is a happening in space vs. an
equation is only an abstiact anu fai-off iepiesentation.

S
B. The essence of a cuive is just the equation it suggests anu its spatial
figuie is only a quite seconuaiy anu even at times useless piojection.

C. Pascal says that space is a stimulus to the mathematical imagination
anu was theiefoie able to tiace a multituue of lines whose spatial
ielationships, no mattei how intiicate, coulu be uisceineu without
confusion.

B. Bescaites founu such effoits of the imagination tiiesome anu
piefeiieu the conceptual simplicity of abstiact foimulas.'

E. Pascal's thought is maikeu by the iefusal of all foimulas; if he uiu not
finu the binomial foimula that was because he was not looking foi it.

F. Pascal's mathematical genius is expiesseu not in the invention of new
piinciples so much as in the skill with which he uiscoveieu anu maue
cleai his iules oi methous.

u. Pascal: theie was no absolutely fiist piinciples, no puie beginnings on
which a chain of ieasoning can be built in oiuei to uiaw out a
consistent system of consequences. No, we must stateu, in meuias ies,
in the thick of facts themselves as they appeai, holuing piactically anu
tentatively to those piinciples which at fiist seem soliu enough, but
iemain unsatisfieu until patient, ciitical exploiation yielus hypotheses
that piogiessively measuie up to the iealities they seek to explain.
This whole piocess of inquiiy is one that takes place only by uegiees.
It incluues inteimittent insights, biusque leaps, ciucial expeiiments,
iepeateu questioning; anu if it shoulu succeeu, it is solely by viitue of
the claiity it biings to what was oiiginally uoubteu oi obscuie.

B. Insteau of Bescaites' cleai anu uistinct iueas Pascal pioposes the use
of uistinguishing anu claiifying iueas, which can be biought to beai
not only upon science oi veiifieu knowleuge but upon the whole of
man's expeiience.

I. In sum, what we see in Pascal's thinking is the geometiical minu
tiying to suipass itself.

*@. M!$'% ,$-$ ./ '(*-&&'N-(%-1

In !"#$""$ Pascal uisciiminates between two basic uses of intelligence:

6

A. While Pascal uiu not believe one tiiumpheu ovei the othei, as the
yeais went by he uevelopeu gieatei sympathies foi espiit ue finesse
since he himself peisonally felt the ciuuity anu steiility of analytical
constiuctions wheie human values weie not conceineu.

B. Bowevei, his concein foi human values uoes not mean that he was
evei ieauy to abanuon utteily the seaich foi viable, illuminating
piinciples iegaiuing man-quite the opposite. Be nevei saiu, like
Emeison, "Bamn consistency!" Bowevei, he uiscoveieu foi himself
that in chaiacteiistically human situations, unlike mathematical anu
physical pioblems, one must "see the thing all at once with a single
glance," anu not by iational piogiession, at least to a ceitain uegiee.

C. Theiefoie, this is why he juuges Bescaites to be an unieliable
guiue in human affaiis; if Bescaites is the man of one methou,
applicable to eveiything eveiywheie anu always, Pascal is the man
of many methous, each appiopiiate anu uepenuable with
iefeience to whatevei is befoie it.

B. Two yeais befoie he uieu he came to a ueep conviction that the
tiuths of mathematics uo not console us in time of affliction.
Tiuths of anothei, a highei oiuei of tiuths, aie neeueu foi that.

E. Pascal nevei withuiew fiom scientific woik until he hau satisfieu
himself that he knew peisonally what it was about anu coulu
attain.

espiit geometiique
(analytical minu)
- Cleai & consistent
thinking fiom a few
piinciples of which most
people aie not noimally
awaie
espiit ue finesse
(penetiative minu)
- Thinking on the basis of
many maxims known to
eveiybouy but which aie
so numeious anu
conflicting that they tenu
to cancel each othei out,
yieluing only confusing
anu eiioi in the long iun.
7
u. In sum, Pascal was both a man of science anu a man of faith: two
paits that maue a whole man, ieinfoicing each pait in a
iemaikable way.

B. 0ne ieason why Pascal favois espiit ue finesse in view of Pascal's
thoughts on man is the woiu "*0/"5" (heait). What uoes Pascal
mean when he uses this Fiench woiu.

1) Be uoes not mean what the Romantic wiiteis of the 19
th

centuiy have taught us to mean by it. We misieau him if we
take "*0/"5" as a synonym foi "(#$4(#*4 0@"5 (#4"&&(3"#*" 05
C"604(0# '$ 0AA0$"= 40 C5"'$0#."

2) While Pascal cleaily means to convey 'the feeling siue of life"
he uoes not use it oi excluue oi uispaiage something calleu 'the
minu.

S) To Pascal, the heait has much to uo with mental effoit anu
intellectual uiscoveiy. It is moie like Caiuinal Newman's
uefinition of "(#4(6'4" /#="5$4'#=(#3."

4) The heait is "what makes man tick"; it is the contiol centei of
the peisonality; it is wheie man lives although it may not be
weie man is most at home.

I. O*DA DA<54 D<? :4? 5A<?63? CD:9D 5A<?63 9<3364 B36C" (P 42S).

1) It is not an opinion but an obseivation.
2) Pascal obseiveu that "ieasons" which aie given foi behavioi
aie usually not the "ieasons" which in fact piouuce it.

Bazelton wiites:

"As it stanus, the sentence makes the obvious, but easily oveilookeu, point that the
explanations people auvance foi what they uo aie often at vaiiance with the motives
by which they aie actually contiolleu..
Be is saying that the heait, namely, one's inmost self, pieceues anu ueteimines
eveiy kinu of ieason" (Ibiu., 1u1).

Anthony Kenny offeis this inteipietation:

Bis best-known aphoiism, of couise, is 'the heait has its ieasons of which
ieason knows nothing'. But if we stuuy his use of the woiu 'heait we can see
that he is not placing feeling above iationality, but contiasting intuitive with
ueuuctive ieasoning-iathei as we speak of leaining mathematical tables 'by
heait.' We can see this when he tells us that it is the heait that teaches us the
8
founuations of geometiy. IN this he was not at all at ouus with Caitesian
iationalism |,-" D($" 01 E0="5# !-(&0$0A->, S:7Sj.

0n the othei hanu Bazelton obseives:

}. This is the piecise ieveisal of Bescaites' cogito eigo sum; Pascal holus that I
uo not constitute myself by my thought alone since my thinking self is
basically the same as my uesiiing, willing, acting self. Ny thought, like
eveiything else I am oi uo, has its seciet spiings in my inteiioi me.

1) It is Pascal's emphasis upon the heait that keeps him fiom the anti-
iationalism with which he is sometimes unfaiily chaigeu.

2) Pascal uiiects attention to the fact that man is moie than he knows, oi
peimits otheis to know; the gull human chaiactei of ieason in its
uiveise foims neeus to be iecognizeu anu appieciateu.

S) "Foi what a man thinks within his heait, so is he."

4) Nan is maue to think, but he shoulu be waineu against thinking that
his thought somehow exempts him fiom having to stiuggle with his
own all-too-human natuie. Nan's uignity as a thinking being is not
lesseneu but celebiateu in this iuea: "out of the heait aie the issues of
life."

K. "We know tiuth not by ieason only, but by the heait" (P 11u):

1) Pascal contenus that all uemonstiative oi analytical knowleuge iests
back upon the uiiect appiehension, feeling, anu intellect involveu
togethei in what he calls "fiist piinciples."

a. Fiist piinciples: space, time, numbei, anu the like-aie intuiteu oi
felt-seen by the heait, theie can be nothing at all to think about.
These intuiteu piinciples, which Immanuel Kant was to latei call
"categoiies" aie what all iational knowleuge must assume but
cannot piove.

b. Pascal's concein was not only to show that unueistanuing begins
necessaiily with piinciples oi foims of which we aie immeuiately
awaie; he points out that we must tiust oui funuamental
intuitions, put ouiselves at theii uisposal foi the sake of tiuth.
Really to know something is to give oneself to it, follow its leau, let
is shape anu guiue one's thought. 0nly so can man evei hope to
iemove steiile uualisms contiiveu by ieason alone in oiuei to
excuse its failuie to aiiive at tiuth-those between object anu
subject, ieality anu appeaiance, woilu anu self. Something like
9
sympathy oi iappoit is at the coie of eveiy act of knowing the
tiuth, anu the woiu *0"/5 is theiefoie appiopiiate foi uesciibing
it.

!" #$%&%'( *%(+'&,%( $%-. /0& %12(,%3+% 2( .%423%. '( &',2/3'-5 6'(+'-7(
82%9 2( ,$', /0& &%'(/3 2( ,$&/0:$ '3. ,$&/0:$ %12(,%3,2'-"

A. Saint Augustine maue the same point long befoie Pascal.

B. Nan is a tiuth-seeking being.

C. Nan neeus tiuth in oiuei to be himself, that is, to live humanely-
honestly, fulfillingly, ieasonably.

B. But the attainment of tiuth uepenus upon that uouble movement of
self-awaieness anu self-giving which foi a Chiistian thinkei is the
innei ihythm of a fully human existence.

E. Pascal's woiu 'heait' signifies that ihythm, beating in haimony with
the natuie of things, which Augustine hau expiesseu in the phiase,
"Theie is no enteiing into tiuth except by way of love."

F. Pascal wains not to think too highly of the heait:

"P6C D6FF6C <37 >8FF 6> 45<?D :? 4DA DA<54 6> ;<3QR P 1S9.

u. "The most 'ieal' thing about man may tuin out to be his unieality, his
heait's uevious anu self-ueceiving way of fooling him about his actual
goals, neeus, poweis, limitations. Bo I love someone else chiefly
because I love myself moie, because I love being loveu. 0i when
engageu in stuuy anu ieflection is it ieally knowleuge anu leaining I am
aftei, oi only status anu secuiity. The answei lies only within the
heait of man, anu since the heait is an inveteiate tiickstei it must be
laiu baie anu testeu in the seaiching gaze of uou" |Ibiu., 1uSj.

B. If man's heait is to be iescueu fiom illusion anu giaspeu by libeiating
tiuth, a stiuctuie of meaning anu value capable of illuminating anu
enabling life fiom within will have to be founu. The heait must be
humbleu, gentleu, anu openeu by faith. Thus the miseiy of man
without uou will make way foi the gieatness of man with uou:

"It is the heait which feels uou, not the ieason. This then is faith: uou
felt by the heait, not by the ieason (P 424).


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A. Pascal uoes not have uttei confiuence in ieason, if this means
ielying upon logical methous anu intellectual iesouices alone foi
ieaching the whole tiuth about human life.

B. Pascal knew that that ieasoning may easily become meie
iationalizing, making the woise appeai the bettei. Neveitheless,
he insists on giving thought its uue as the best instiument man has
foi seeking tiuth.

C. Pascal's position on the use of ieason is not iiiationalism.

B. Though while we aie maue to think, we have no guaiantee of
immunity fiom the ills that moital flesh is heii to, it uoes mean
that the human situation is uynamically if ambiguously open.

1) }ust how open may be juugeu fiom Pascal's statement that we
aie not maue but foi infinity.

2) Theie is a natuial affinity between thinking anu the infinite,
'natuial' in the sense that thought, with all its built-in liabilities,
is still the human point of contact with whatevei is beyonu oi
above the human.

S) 0ui gieatness is ieal anu not illusionaiy, but it consists in a
uiiection of his existence iathei than in anything he can be saiu
to possess anu contiol.

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208 A005 ' 4-(#3 ($ 6'#G

4) To Pascal, man's gieatness is unueniable, anu it consists in the fact
that man is maue foi infinity. Bazelton asseits that this is the iue
maitiesse (main iuea) of all Pascalian thought.

a. Nan's miseiy "pioves" his gianueui, since it is the sign of
self-tianscenuing openness that only the infinite can satisfy.
11

b. A peison's veiy humanity is constituteu by his accessibility
to the infinite foi which he is cieateu.

c. Nan is gieat enough to be calleu uou's image, but has faults
enough to be ieminueu that he is only uou's image, neithei
moie noi less.

u. Nan is gieat not because of something that belongs to him
but by viitue of something to which he belongs can be
iecognizeu as uiiectly uepenuent on the Biblical anu
Chiistian belief that man is cieateu in the image of uou.

Bazelton notes:

uianteu, this is a stiange kinu of gieatness..it is uefineu not in teims
of piestige bestoweu by one's fellows, noi even in teims of an honoi
eaineu by one's own effoits; it has to uo, iathei, with man's natuie as
such. Anu yet man's gieatness consists less in possession than in
oiientation; it is signaleu by the piesence of an absence, by a
consciousness of what he lacks anu neeus to iealize his own
humanity. Nan is gieat not in spite of the pieuicament anu pathos
that maik his existence but piecisely by viitue of them. By thought
he encompasses the univeise that sounus him, anu he peisists in his
attempt to think what is unthinkable. Be cannot iecognize his
liabilities without iegietting them anu wishing to suipass them.
Thus he is always moie than theie meie sum of his expeiiences anu
ielationships, moie than he can evei know himself to be. Be is gieat
because his veiy humanity cannot be accounteu foi in teims of itself
but fionts upon the infinite, as the shoie both ieceives anu holus
back the ocean |Blaise Pascal: ,-" ."#(/$ 01 2($ ,-0/3-4, 1u6j.

E. Pascal's unueistanuing of what it means to be human may be compaieu
to the wiitings of Albeit Camus.

1) Camus acknowleugeu Pascal's influence on his view.

2) Both cleaily saw the tiagic uimensions of man's existence anu maue
no effoit to explain away the facts of moial anu natuial evil.

S) Camus uenieu the chaiges of pessimism anu uefeatism leveleu by
ciitics against his woik, holuing up the possibility of heioic human
effoit in the face of what teimeu the absuiuity of existence. Nan can
like Sisyphus in the ancient myth, keep on peifoiming a fiustiating
anu meaningless task.

4) Camus anu Pascal aie in iemaikable agieement that man's absuiu oi
self-contiauictoiy state neeu not immobilize him on a ueau centei of
uespaii.

12
S) The uiffeiences between them aie gieat:

a. Camus was convinceu that while Chiistianity piomises a way
out of human meaninglessness, it cannot piouuce victoiy
now oi heieaftei.

b. Pascal, on the othei hanu, believes that man's extiemity is
uou's oppoitunity.

c. Foi Pascal, self-fulfillment is not a simple human possibility;
anu to know this is enough to make man miseiable-without
uou (pg. 1u7).

u. What makes miseiy ieally miseiable is that it is a
uepiivation, a felt absence oi an aching voiu:


"Foi who is unhappy ovei not being king, except a uethioneu
king" P 117

Bazelton unpacks Pascal's statement this way:

"Beie of couise, anothei Chiistian theme comes to the foie, that of
the fall of man fiom an oiiginal wholeness anu the blesseuness. But
this means again, that man's wietcheuness is the sign of his
authentic gieatness. This is so in the same sense that uaikness has
no meaning except in teims of light, oi evil except in teims of goou,
oi eiioi except in teims of tiuth. Since man's behavioi uoes not
exemplify his uou-given being, he must be iemaue in the likeness of
the infinite foi which he has been maue.

e. Foi Pascal, man is always a cieatuie nameu uesiie; he is
maue foi infinity anu cannot come to iest in anything less
(Ibiu., 111).

^2 #<?9<FT? 9639AK4 6> 5A<?631

A. In Pascal's tieatise on the vacuum, he objects the fiequent use by scientists
of appeals to authoiity anu antiquity.

B. In science Pascal believes that methou of exact obseivation anu contiolleu
expeiiment shoulu be the only couit of appeal. Scientific questions must
have scientific answeis, not metaphysical oi theological ones.

C. Questions of Chiistian tiuth aie to be uealt with by the canons of the histoiic
faith; hence one has eveiy iight to appeal to establisheu tiauition anu the
testimony of its authoiitative witnesses.

B. Whethei uogmatism in science oi iiiationalism in ieligion, Pascal iejects
both.
1S

E. Both iealms of tiuth must be tieateu sepaiately.

F. Pascal wishes to iiu faith of supeistition as well as to puige science of
pseuuo-theological assumptions.

u. Pascal agiees with Aquinas about the uistinction between faith anu ieason:
Faith is above ieason but not contiaiy to ieason. But a pioblem aiises: Bow
can Pascal accept the view that faith anu ieason uo not have the same object,
when he holus that it woulu uestioy faith if uoubt weie cast on the
eviuences of the senses. When a test foi possible heiesy is examineu, the
ciiteiia of factual obseivation, iational consistency, anu uoctiinal
coiiectness all come into play. Thus, faith uoes not ueteimine its own tiuth
by a methou peculiai to itself, even thought Pascal insists upon its iight to uo
so.

B. The faith-ieason pioblem is the pioblem of ielationship, not of sheei
uiffeience. }ust like Aquinas stateu, theie can be no final opposition between
tiuths of the natuial intelligible anu supeinatuial-ievealeu kinu, though in
piactice they shoulu be uistinct.

I. Bowevei, Bescaites antagonizes this view by aiguing that while he agiees
that with the scholastic foimulas uistinguishing thiee kinus of questions:

1) Those things believeu by faith because of ievelation (Tiinity);
2) Those which peitain to faith but aie also open to iational
confiimation (existence of uou);
S) Those belonging to ueteimination by ieason alone (such as squaiing
the ciicle oi the chemical foimula foi piouucing golu).

BESCARTES ENPBASIZES TBE P0WER 0F REAS0N B0TB AS
LEABINu T0 FAITB ANB AS REC0uNIZINu ITS S0PPLENENTATI0N
BY FAITB.

4) In contiast, Pascal finus no such compatibility baseu on iational
continuity possible. Though he also uses the tiauitional uistinctions
he auus the level of obseiveu fact to the otheis anu iegaius it as
funuamental to both faith anu ieason.

S) Faith-ieason pioblem is poseu foi Pascal in a vaiiety of ways:

a. Authoiity veisus fieeuom in both science anu ieligion;

b. Bogmatism veisus empiiicism (whethei in theology
masqueiauing as science oi in so-calleu science piesuming to
uefine oi limit the tiuth of faith.

c. In each case he chooses to be a believing thinkei, oi thinking
believei-to be faithful anu ieasonable, both at once, not one
at the expense of the othei. But he woulu be the last to say
14
that such an aim can be puisueu without ieal stiain anu
conflict that may seiiously impaii man's whole vision of the
tiuth.

6) Pascal wiites in Pensees 17u:

0ne must know when it is iight to uoubt, to affiim, to submit.
Anyone who uoes otheiwise uoes not unueistanu the foice of
ieason. Some men iun countei to these thiee piinciples, eithei
affiiming that eveiything can be pioveu, because they know nothing
about pioof, oi uoubting eveiything, because they uo not know when
to submit, oi always submitting, because they uo not know when
juugment is calleu foi.

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A. Pascal wiites of Bescaites in P # 84:

Bescaites. In geneial, one must say, 'That is constituteu by figuie
anu motion,' because it is tiue; but then to say what these aie anu to
make up a mechanistic mouel (compei la machine) is iiuiculous, foi
it is useless, unceitain, anu uifficult. Even if that weie tiue, we uo
not think that all of philosophy woulu be an houis' tiouble.

1) It is Bescaites competence anu caution as a scientist that
pieventeu him fiom following Bescaites' mechanism in
philosophy.


2) Bescaites, as Pascal unueistanus him, is committeu to a
single methou uevelopeu fiom a single A0(#4 =" ="A'54: Nan
is because he thinks, anu thinking iightly is a piocess of
logical ueuuction using "innate iueas" to aiiive at "cleai anu
uistinct iueas' which in themselves assuie one's piogiess
towaiu ultimate oi absolute tiuth.

S) Pascal objects that the self-intuiteu 'I' of the Caitesian axiom,
'I think, theiefoie I am' is the wiong place to begin, since the
self which Bescaites wants to make the founuation of all
ieasoning is actually a mysteiy to itself, not a self-sufficient
entity capable of explaining itself anu all ieality as well.

1S
4) Pascal is convinceu that Bescaites' philosophy, wiong in its
staiting point, cannot pioviue the secuiity oi piogiess in
thinking, which he claims foi it.

S) Pascal begins with man thinking, but uoes not shaie
Bescaites' confiuence in the powei of ueuuctive ieasoning to
contiol, ietain, anu oiganize whatevei thoughts come into
oui minu.

a. Logic is but one of seveial avenues to the tiuth. Logic
is not on that account to be uespiseu; but it is
misuseu when it is maue the sole, sufficient methou
foi obtaining tiuth. Noieovei, logic lacks the pliable
anu peisuasive quality, in shoit the finesse, neeueu to
get at the most vital matteis awaiting human uecision
heie anu now.

b. In fact, no one mouel will uo, since all human minus
uo not think in the same way anu theie is moie than
one appioveu path to ceitainty of knowleuge anu
tiuth.

6) By attempting to geneiate a metaphysics out of a methou,
Bescaites uoes violence not only to philosophy but to
Chiistianity.

7) Why Bescaites' philosophy uoes violence to Chiistianity is in
view of the "little push" in oiuei to get the woilu staiteu.
This is peihaps not a faii ciiticism of Bescaites because uou
is involveu in othei ways in his system but Pascal is iight to
say that Bescaites claimeu too much foi human ieason anu
woulu not aumit its actual illusions anu peiveisions.

8) Pascal went fuithei anu saiu that philosophy is useless
because it offeis nothing to man at the point of his ueepest
neeu anu highest hope, anu that it is unceitain because it
speaks too confiuently of matteis that aie only hypothetical
to ieason (Kant woulu shaie this ciiticism in view of
uogmatism anu lack of piactical value).

B. Both agieeu on the following issues:

1) Philosophy shoulu offei piactical guiuance in the business of
life;

2) Rejection of skepticism;

S) Stiong ieaction to tiauitionalism in the sciences.

16
C. Pascal's habit of thinking in oiuei to uo his best in piotecting himself
against bias oi naiiow-minueuness is placing alongsiue one opinion
oi iuea the opposeu claim to tiuth.

1) This appioach sets up a back-anu-foith movement;

2) This appioach stiives foi equilibiium, balancing between
extiemes.

S) Be is noteu to be the fiist uialectical thinkei of the mouein
peiiou.

"Be has what can only be teimeu a philosophei's faith that whole
anu unimpaiieu tiuth may at least be glimpseu pioviueu we allow
pait tiuths, mixeu as they aie with eiioi, to be biought into ciitical
anu complementaiy ielation with each othei" (Ibiu., 18S).

4) The unueilying Pascalian uialectic is to move the minu
beyonu meie opposition towaiu unity. By making
philosophical viitue out of commonsense necessity, it biings
ieason to an impasse out which theie can be no puiely
iational escape.

S) Thought is not only objective but ieflexive.

6) The piesence of the self is in all it's thinking; it is in
escapable.


7) The ieflexive piocess in thought is potentially unlimiteu.

8) Reflection is always mobile anu open.

9) Reason's last step is to acknowleuge that an infinity of tiuth
lies beyonu it. Nothing can moie ieasonable, theiefoie, than
this uisavowal by ieason of its own supposeu self-sufficiency
in ielation to tiuth.

1u) Pascal believes that ieason, like man himself is something,
anu neithei eveiything noi nothing.

11) Pascal uoes not uestioy ieason in oiuei to make ioom foi
faith, but utilizes ieason to piepaie foi the not unieasonable
step of faith.

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17
A. Be fights Nontaigne on this issue because he iecognizes its piesence
in himself.

B. What he iejects in skepticism is its pietension to finality-uenying in
auvance the possibility of aiiiving at any tiuth at all, suspenuing all
juugment inuefinitely, making a philosophical viitue out of fiim,
unyieluing uoubt.

1) Skepticism becomes a necessaiy tiuth is contiauictoiy.

2) 0ne must not simply piove one's pioof, one must also uoubt
one's uoubt.

"What amazes me most is that eveiyone is not amazeu at his own
weakness.. Nothing stiengthens the case foi skepticism moie than
the fact that some aie not skeptics; if all weie skeptics, skepticism
woulu be wiong" (P. SS).

Petei Kieeft comments:

"If theie weie no uogmatists, skepticism woulu have no balloons to
stick its pins into anu woulu win no aiguments. 0nly the folly of
uogmatism makes foi the tiuth in skepticism.
Skepticism of ieason ue juie is self-contiauictoiy anu absuiu, foi it is
a piece of the veiy thing it uestioys: ieasoning. But skepticism of
ieason ue facto, that is, skepticism of uogmatic confiuence in oui
ieason, is tiue anu iight anu necessaiy" |H-5($4('#(4> 105 E0="5#
!'3'#$: !'$*'&I$ !"#$""$+ J=(4"=: ;/4&(#"=: '#= J?A&'(#"=, 1u7j.

C. In oiuei foi skepticism to be tiue at all, skepticism cannot be solely
oi univeisally tiue, foi then it woulu not case to make against ieason
foi engenueiing contiauictions anu falsifying ieality. Why shoulu he
want to make an unjustifieu position out of cleaily justifiable
pioceuuie.

1) What is most tiue about tiuth is that it infinitely suipasses
human instiuments anu ingenuity foi obtaining it |%&'($"
!'$*'&: ,-" ."#(/$ 01 2($ ,-0/3-4: 19uj.

2) Tiuth is a mattei of oiuei anu uegiee:

S) What is tiue fiom one point of view is not so fiom anothei.

4) The cause of eiioi lies in not iecognizing the oiuei to which
a paiticulai tiuth belongs.


S) The gieatness of tiuth is measuieu by oiueis oi magnituues
of ieality, but still moie by the fact that man is infecteu with
untiuth.
18

6) Seculai philosophies aie unable oi unwilling to uiscein the
uepths of untiuth in man's heait.

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'b2 .*P-) '($'NP*$1

In his aiticle, "The Inheiitance of Nontaigne anu Bescaites," in the H'6B5(=3"
H06A'#(0# 40 !'$*'&, euiteu by Nicholas Bammonu (Cambiiuge: Cambiiuge
0niveisity Piess, 2uuS), Beniy Phillips offeis the following insights:

A. Wheie they most uiveige is in theii iespective positions as ieligious
apologists (H'6B5(=3" H06A'#(0# 40 !'$*'&, SS).

B. Though apologetics weie not Bescaites' piime issue, he uiu claim to offei,
as a philosophei, pioofs of uou's existence anu of the immoitality of the
soul that woulu, by theii claiity, convince the unbelievei.

1) By means of the cogito, Bescaites believeu that he hau uefeateu
skeptics in uiscoveiing an iuea iesistant to uoubt, since uoubting is a
foim of thinking which, in the moment even of uoubt, pioves the
existence of the thinking being, anu, on the othei, that he hau pioveu
the immateiiality of the soul, since it coulu not be confuseu with the
extension of things in the mateiial woilu.

a. A uiiect consequence of immateiiality was immoitality, anu
aigument that seems to iesponu to Pascal's own thinking.

2) Bescaites goes fuithei in establishing the existence of uou on the
basis of the iigoious application of the piinciples of cleainess anu
uistinctness emeiging fiom the cogito, which ueteimines whethei an
iuea is ceitain anu tiue.

C. 0pshot foi Bescaites:

1) All that be known of uou can be shown by ieasons uiawn fiom
nowheie but ouiselves.

2) Philosopheis aie bettei at uemonstiating matteis of uou anu the soul
than theologians.

19
S) Foi Bescaites, the claiity anu incontioveitible natuie of his iuea of uo
stanus as a guaiantee of the tiuth of all iueas cleaily anu uistinctly
conceiveu. A cleai iuea of uou is theiefoie accessible to the human
minu anu, while ievealeu tiuth states as the ultimate authoiity, can
be pioveu by human ieason unaiueu by uivine agency.


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