Ideas of Blaise Pascal, by Theme

[French, 1623 - 1662, Scientist and mathematician, and then Christian mystic. A Jansenist. Poor health.]

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2. Reason / A. Nature of Reason / 9. Limits of Reason
6675 The heart has its reasons of which reason knows nothing
5. Theory of Logic / D. Assumptions for Logic / 3. Contradiction
10121 Contradiction is not a sign of falsity, nor lack of contradiction a sign of truth
12. Knowledge Sources / C. Rationalism / 1. Rationalism
22011 The first principles of truth are not rational, but are known by the heart
19. Language / F. Communication / 1. Rhetoric
6681 We only want to know things so that we can talk about them
21. Aesthetics / C. Artistic Issues / 3. Artistic Representation
6676 Painting makes us admire things of which we do not admire the originals
22. Metaethics / A. Value / 1. Nature of Value / d. Subjective value
6677 Imagination creates beauty, justice and happiness, which is the supreme good
22. Metaethics / B. The Good / 2. Happiness / d. Routes to happiness
6678 We live for the past or future, and so are never happy in the present
22. Metaethics / C. Ethics Foundations / 2. Source of Ethics / j. Ethics by convention
6680 It is a funny sort of justice whose limits are marked by a river
23. Ethics / F. Existentialism / 3. Angst
20732 If man considers himself as lost and imprisoned in the universe, he will be terrified
24. Political Theory / D. Ideologies / 5. Democracy / a. Nature of democracy
6682 Majority opinion is visible and authoritative, although not very clever
25. Social Practice / A. Freedoms / 5. Freedom of lifestyle
6679 It is not good to be too free
28. God / B. Proving God / 2. Proofs of Reason / d. Pascal's Wager
7455 Pascal knows you can't force belief, but you can make it much more probable [Hacking]
7457 Pascal is right, but relies on the unsupported claim of a half as the chance of God's existence [Hacking]
7456 The libertine would lose a life of enjoyable sin if he chose the cloisters [Hacking]
6684 If you win the wager on God's existence you win everything, if you lose you lose nothing