Thoughts (Original Edition, Collector's Edition)

Author: (French) Pascal, original author, Tan Shanming, compiler
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-05-01
Features: The idea for this book was conceived around 1660 and was meticulously constructed as a defense of Christianity. The author employs his unique "Pascal's Method," which begins with the polar concept, to examine theoretical issues related to human nature and various aspects such as the world, life, society, history, philosophical knowledge, and religious belief. The book reflects the author's profound concern for human existence. He laments that humans drift eternally between two "infinities" in the vast universe—whether minuscule to nothingness or immense to infinity. Ultimately, human beings and their destinies remain unknowable, yet they cannot escape this "terrible island." Only by believing in God and surrendering themselves to Him can they attain true happiness. Pascal was one of the most outstanding mathematicians and physicists of the 17th century, making significant historical contributions to both theoretical and experimental sciences in the early modern period. His philosophical and theoretical ideas arely expressed in his work Pensées. Diverging from Descartes' rationalist, the work takes a unique path. On one hand, it inherits and develops the rationalist tradition, using reason to critique everything. On the other hand, under the guiding thought that all truths must necessarily present themselves in the form of contradictions, it points out the inherent contradictions and limitations of reason itself. Using his distinctive method of revealing contradictions, starting from the opposition of polar concepts, he examines theoretical issues related to human nature, as well as the world, life, society, history, philosophical knowledge, and religious belief. The work is interspersed with elements of dialectical thought and is heavily shrouded in a pessimistic agnosticism.