The Cambridge Companion to Pascal PDF
Preview The Cambridge Companion to Pascal
This page intentionally left blank the cambridge companion to PASCAL Each volume in this series of companions to major philoso- phers contains specially commissioned essays by an in- ternational team of scholars, together with a substantial bibliography,andwillserveasareferenceworkforstudents andnon-specialists.Oneaimoftheseriesistodispelthein- timidationsuchreadersoftenfeelwhenfacedwiththework ofadifficultandchallengingthinker. Blaise Pascal (1623–62) occupies a position of pivotal importance in many domains: philosophy, mathematics, physics,religiouspolemicsandapologetics.Inthisvolumea team of leading scholars presents the full range of Pascal’s achievement and surveys the intellectual background of his thought and the reception of his work. In addition to chapters on Pascal’s life and intellectual legacy, topics in- clude his work on probability, decision theory, physics, philosophy of science, theory of knowledge, philosophical method,polemics,biblicalinterpretation,graceandreligious belief,thesocialworld,andtheartofpersuasion. New readers and non-specialists will find this the most convenient and accessible guide to Pascal currently avail- able.Advancedstudentsandspecialistswillfindaconspec- tusofrecentdevelopmentsintheinterpretationofPascal. nicholas hammond is Senior Lecturer in the Depart- ment of French, Cambridge University, and Director of StudiesinModernLanguagesatGonvilleandCaiusCollege, Cambridge. othervolumesintheseriesofcambridgecompanions AQUINAS Editedbynorman kretzmann and eleonore stump HANNAHARENDT Editedbydana villa ARISTOTLE Editedbyjonathan barnes AUGUSTINE Editedbyeleonore stump and norman kretzmann BACON Editedbymarkku peltonen SIMONEDEBEAUVOIR Editedbyclaudia card DARWIN Editedbyjonathan hodge and gregory radick DESCARTES Editedbyjohn cottingham DUNSSCOTUS Editedbythomas williams EARLYGREEKPHILOSOPHY Editedbya. a. long FEMINISMINPHILOSOPHY Editedby miranda fricker andjennifer hornsby FOUCAULT Editedbygary gutting FREUD Editedbyjerome neu GALILEO Editedbypeter machamer GERMANIDEALISM Editedbykarl ameriks GADAMER Editedbyrobert j. dostal HABERMAS Editedbystephen k. white HEGEL Editedbyfrederick beiser HEIDEGGER Editedbycharles guignon HOBBES Editedbytom sorell HUME Editedbydavid fate norton HUSSERL Editedbybarry smith and david woodruff smith WILLIAMJAMES Editedbyruth anna putnam KANT Editedbypaul guyer KIERKEGAARD Editedbyalastair hannay and gordon marino LEIBNIZ Editedbynicholas jolley LEVINAS Editedbysimon critchley and robert bernasconi LOCKE Editedbyvere chappell MALEBRANCHE Editedbysteven nadler MARX Editedbyterrell carver MILL Editedbyjohn skorupski NEWTON Editedbyi. bernard cohen and george e. smith NIETZSCHE Editedbybernd magnus and kathleen higgins OCKHAM Editedbypaul vincent spade PLATO Editedbyrichard kraut PLOTINUS Editedbylloyd p. gerson ROUSSEAU Editedbypatrick riley SARTRE Editedbychristina howells SCHOPENHAUER Editedbychristopher janaway THESCOTTISHENLIGHTENMENT Editedby alexander broadie SPINOZA Editedbydon garrett WITTGENSTEIN Editedbyhans sluga and david stern The Cambridge Companion to PASCAL Editedby Nicholas Hammond UniversityofCambridge Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo Cambridge University Press The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge , United Kingdom Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521809245 © Cambridge University Press 2003 This book is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provision of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published in print format 2003 - ---- eBook (EBL) - --- eBook (EBL) - ---- hardback - --- hardback - ---- paperback - --- paperback Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of s for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this book, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate. contents List of figures page ix Acknowledgements x List of contributors xi Chronology xiv List of abbreviations xvi Introduction 1 nicholas hammond 1 Pascal’s life and times 4 ben rogers 2 Pascal’sreadingandtheinheritanceofMontaigne and Descartes 20 henry phillips 3 Pascal’s work on probability 40 a.w.f. edwards 4 Pascal and decision theory 53 jon elster 5 Pascal’s physics 75 daniel c. fouke 6 Pascal’s philosophy of science 102 desmond m. clarke 7 Pascal’s theory of knowledge 122 jean khalfa vii viii Contents 8 Grace and religious belief in Pascal 144 michael moriarty 9 Pascal and holy writ 162 david wetsel 10 Pascal’s Lettres provinciales: from flippancy to fundamentals 182 richard parish 11 Pascal and the social world 201 he´le`ne bouchilloux 12 Pascal and philosophical method 216 pierre force 13 Pascal’s Pense´es and the art of persuasion 235 nicholas hammond 14 The reception of Pascal’s Pense´es in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries 253 antony mckenna Bibliography 264 Index 273
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