Pascal the Philosopher

Blaise Pascal has always been appreciated as a literary giant and a religious guide, but has received only grudging recognition as a philosopher: philosophers have mistaken Pascals harsh criticism of their discipline as a rejection of it. But according to Graeme Hunter, Pascals critics have simply failed to grasp his lean, but powerful conception of philosophy. This accessibly written book provides the first introduction to Pascals philosophy as an organic whole. Hunter argues that Pascals aim is not merely to humble philosophy, but to save it from a kind of failure to which it is prone. He lays out Pascals development of a more promising and fruitful path for philosophical inquiry, one that responded to the scientific, religious, and political upheaval of his time. Finally, Hunter illuminates Pascals significance for contemporary readers, allowing him to emerge as the rare philosopher who is spiritual, literary, and rigorous all at once both a brilliant controversialist and a thinker of substance.