"Pensées," by Blaise Pascal (Part 2/2)

"Pensées," by Blaise Pascal (Part 2/2) | Graham H. Walker, Ph.D.

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4 жыл бұрын

In this second of two sessions hosted by the C.S. Lewis Society of California, Dr. Graham H. Walker discusses the landmark book, "Pensées," by Blaise Pascal (1623-1662), the renowned French philosopher, mathematician (e.g., Pascal's triangle), physicist, inventor (e.g., Pascal's mechanical calculator or the Pascaline) and theologian. (The event was held on March 25, 2020, in Oakland, CA.)
Watch Part One in this link:
• "Pensées," by Blaise P...
Blaise Pascal was born in Clermont-Ferrand, in France's Auvergne region, in 1623, the son of a tax collector. A convert to Jansenism, he engaged with gusto in a controversy with the Jesuits, which gave rise to his "Lettres Provinciales" on which, with the "Pensées," his literary fame chiefly rests. A remarkable stylist, he is regarded by many as the greatest of French prose artists. He died, after a long illness, in 1662. A contemporary of René Descartes, Pascal was a gifted scientist, but it is his unfinished apologetic book for Christianity upon which his reputation now rests. The "Penseés" is a collection of philosophical fragments, notes and essays in which Pascal explores the contradictions of human nature in psychological, social, metaphysical and-above all-theological terms. Mankind emerges from Pascal’s analysis as a wretched and desolate creature within an impersonal universe, but who can be transformed through faith in God’s grace.
“I know no pre-twentieth-century book except for the Bible that shoots Christian arrows farther into modern pagan hearts than the 'Pensées.' I have taught ‘Great Books’ classes for twenty years, and every year my students sit silent, even awed, at Pascal more than at any other of the forty great thinkers we cover throughout the history of Western philosophy and theology.”
-Peter Kreeft, Professor of Philosophy, Boston College
The two sessions on the book were led by Dr. Graham H. Walker, Executive Director at the Independent Institute:
www.independent.org/aboutus/pe...
THESE TWO SESSIONS focus on the following recommended sections of "Pensées" (translated by A. J. Krailsheimer):
Section One, generally, but especially the following sections:
• XXII Proofs of Jesus Christ
• XXVI Christian Morality
• XXVII Conclusion
Section Two, the following sections:
• I Various
• II The Wager
• III Against Indifference
• XXI Two Types of Mind
• XXII Mathematical and Intuitive Mind
• XXIX Relativity of Human Values
• XXX Habit and Conversion
ORDER THE BOOK "Pensées," by Blaise Pascal:
Hardcover: www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/AS...
Paperback: www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/AS...
Kindle: www.amazon.com/Pens%C3%A9es-B...
Audible: www.amazon.com/Pensees/dp/B00...
BECOME A MEMBER of the C.S. Lewis Society of California and receive a FREE gift:
www.lewissociety.org/membership/
C.S. LEWIS SOCIETY OF CALIFORNIA Online:
FACEBOOK: / lewissociety
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WEBSITE: www.lewissociety.org/

Пікірлер: 9

@hawthorne1504 Жыл бұрын

Thank you Dr. Walker, this was great.

@lorimorrison6539 2 жыл бұрын

I love him as a teacher!!! So gracious and good!!! Thank you! I began 2 of the City of God teachings and loved them too. They were interrupted (technologically)so I need to finish them but I really love him! Thank you you so much!!

@blaizewood1871 Жыл бұрын

Thank you.

@tonyappleton9488 Жыл бұрын

“Man is the weakest of reeds, but a thinking reed.” As with all analogies it is necessary to know the primary reality from which the analogy is drawn. A reed is a slender grass form which grows in shallow water. Unlike sturdy trees which may break before a hurricane, a reed will bend but will not break; and when the tempest has passed it will regain its upright position. The weakest of of reeds therefore is the most likely to bend and flatten before the storm, most likely to hold fast to its roots and form and to rise again to its pristine form. Man, the thinking reed in Pascal’s analogy, knows his supple weakness, his resilience, and his eventual triumphal uprightness which, though laid flat in the hurricanes and blizzards of time, rises again and survives; and rises stronger and triumphant in each passing storm.

@leticiacervantes5013 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for these wonderful talks I listen to while writing Bysantine icons in Santiago, Chile. You talk about the nothingness of nirvana and the I AM of Judeo-Christian teachings (min 17), I wonder if they are both right. St. John of the Cross talks about the ‘dark night’. In order to see the Light it has to be dark. ‘In the beginning darkness covered the earth….then God said “let there be light” Gn 1:1. So to see light, Gods consciousness reveals itself to us so that we may see him, just like he revealed himself to Moses in the burning bush after living in the dessert (meaning in the dark) for years. Thank you for teaching great meaningful stuff.

@hawthorne1504 Жыл бұрын

410: I don’t think Aristotle thought we needed to overcome passions, I think he thought we needed to practice virtuous behavior until it becomes a habit to the point where the good virtuous choice is what we desire.

@hawthorne1504 Жыл бұрын

Note on 407: which is closer to the truth… Stoics looking inside or those who seek diversion who look outside. The second choice is very much the modern day, we seek constant gratification with our devices that distract us from thought. In the one hand I thought looking inward is closer to the better way since at least you are focusing on something, but on the other hand it is quite dangerous as it can lead the a self referential abyss.