Blaise Pascal: Thoughts, Letters, and Minor Works

Contains the following: Thoughts on Mind and Style; The Misery of Man Without God; Of the Necessity of the Wager; Of the Means of Belief; Justice and the Reason of Effects; The Philosophers; Morality and Doctrine; Fundamentals of the Christian Religion; Perpetuity; Typology; Prophecies; Proofs of Jesus Christ; The Miracles. Various Letters. Minor Works: Epitaph of M. Pascal; Prayer; Comparison Between Christians of Early Times and Those of Today; Discourses on the Condition of the Great; On the Conversion of the Sinner; Conversation on Epictetus and Montaigne; Art of Persuasion; Discourse on the Passion of Love; Of the Geometrical Sprit; Preface to the Treatise on Vacuum; New Fragment of the Treatise on Vacuum.

After making important early contributors to the fields of physical sciences and of mathematics--including the invention of the discipline of probability--French polymath BLAISE PASCAL (1623-1662), a former child prodigy, turned his extraordinary talents to theology and philosophy. This, his most profound work, was unfinished at the time of his premature death, but it is still considered one of the finest works in the French language. In Thoughts, Pascal mounts a sophisticated defense of his Catholic faith, discussing, among other subjects:

* the misery of man without God
* justice and morality
* the fundamentals of Christianity
* proofs of Jesus Christ
* his now-famous wager, proving the necessity of belief in God.

This omnibus edition also features a selection of Pascal's letters--to friends, to family, and to the Swedish queen Christina--as well as his minor works, including "Prayer, to Ask of God the Proper Use of Sickness," "Discourses on the Condition of the Great," "The Art of Persuasion," and more.