Nature, Knowledge and Spirit: the Irregular Science of Blaise Pascal

Pascal’s intellectual contribution was recognised throughout the centuries: from the Enlightenment up to present day philosophy, his thought influenced countless philosophers and scientists, while the beauty of his prose has been universally admired and exalted by scholars of language and literature. Due to the complexity and subtlety of his philosophy and the wide range of his studies, different readings of his works have tried to reduce the complexity of his thought either to a despondent skepticism or to a lofty fideism, and his figure to that of the philosopher, or that of the scientist or even that of the theologian, but the true genius of Pascal’s contribution is its delicate, internal dialogue of doubt and faith, of indetermination and certainty, of the esprit de finesse and the esprit de géometrie.