Blaise Pascal is one of the greatest and most noted mathematicians and philosophers in European history. This little book
proposes throwing light on one aspect in particular of his famous work, PENSEES (thoughts). The author first gives a very short biography of Pascal. Then he shows how the PENSEES came about, as well as their purpose, direction, antecedents, origin, influences, and, finally, further speculation about where they would have gone had Pascal lived long enough to complete the work for which he was gathering material. T
hen the author launches into the meat of his work -- that is, a fuller development of the themes above, with an emphasis on Pascal''s dialectical themes, including the Fall of Man versus the Redemption (often phrased in secular terms), man''s potential greatness versus his potential (and often actual) loathsomeness, the
philosopher versus the world and the common man, and many other apparent oppositions which Pascal feels can only be resolved by Christianity and the belief in God. One point which the author is at pains to point out is the rational results of the nature of the common man, and his circumstances, although the philosophers have called these vanity. Man must submit to force by NECESSITY. He seeks diversion in his work and in his play because of his essentially Fallen nature --his inner despair and emptiness upon self-reflection and reflection on his life and its true parameters, limitations and necessities. In spite of all this, and all that the philosophers (i.e. intellectuals with a philosophical turn of mind) label vanity, society turns out to be fairly happy anyway. (Just don''t go overboard, and if you''re inclined to self-reflection...remember, a little joy is not all that bad, even if you''re being silly).
Pascal is a revolutionary thinker, in that he recognizes the justice of the thinking of the common man, whether philosophers are willing to acknowledge it or not. He also breaks open the existential dilemma of man in a way that it seminal in European philosophy, particularly that of the French. Had he been an atheist, he would have completely anticipated Sartre and Camus.