Notes

Notes

[A] Cf. the use of the simile of the couvreur. For comparing parallel passages, the edition of the Pensées by Henri Massis (A la cité des livres) is better than the two-volume edition of Jacques Chevalier (Gabalda). It seems just possible that in the latter edition, and also in his biographical study (Pascal; by Jacques Chevalier, English translation, published by Sheed & Ward), M. Chevalier is a little over-zealous to demonstrate the perfect orthodoxy of Pascal.

[B] The great man of Port-Royal was of course Saint-Cyran, but any one who is interested will certainly consult, first of all, the book of Sainte-Beuve mentioned.

[C] For a brilliant criticism of the errors of Descartes from a theological point of view the reader is referred to Three Reformers by Jacques Maritain (translation published by Sheed & Ward).

[D] An important modern theory of discontinuity, suggested partly by Pascal, is sketched in the collected fragments of Speculations by T. E. Hulme (Kegan Paul).

CONTENTS

Page

       Introduction By T. S. Eliotvii

section

I.      Thoughts On Mind And On Style1

II.    The Misery Of Man Without God14

III.   Of The Necessity Of The Wager52

IV.    Of The Means Of Belief71

V.     Justice And The Reason Of Effects83

VI.    The Philosophers96

VII.   Morality And Doctrine113

VIII.  The Fundamentals Of The Christian Religion152

IX.    Perpetuity163

X.     Typology181

XI.    The Prophecies198

XII.   Proofs Of Jesus Christ222

XIII.  The Miracles238

XIV.  Appendix: Polemical Fragments257

       Notes273

       Index289

NOTE

Passages erased by Pascal are enclosed in square brackets, thus []. Words, added or corrected by the editor of the text, are similarly denoted, but are in italics.

It has been seen fit to transfer Fragment 514 of the French edition to the Notes. All subsequent Fragments have accordingly been renumbered.