A Summer with Pascal

Compagnon, Antoine; Translated by Catherine Porter

ISBN 10: 0674295412 / ISBN 13: 9780674295414

Published by The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts & London, 2024

About this Item

12mo [approx 12.7x18.7cm]. Fine copy in a Fine dustjacket. DJ now protected in our clear archival purpose-made plastic sleeve. An excellent copy in 'as new' condition. 168 pages. "Compagnon provides a bird's-eye view of Pascal's life and significance, making this volume an ideal introduction. Still, scholars and neophytes alike will profit greatly from his masterful readings of the Pensees-a cornerstone of Western philosophy-and the Provincial Letters, in which Pascal advanced wry theological critiques of his contemporaries. " [DJ blurb]. Robust, professional packaging and tracking provided for all parcels.

Seller Inventory # 328732

Bibliographic Details

• Title: A Summer with Pascal
• Publisher: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts & London
• Publication Date: 2024
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0674295412
• ISBN 13: 9780674295414
• Binding: Hardback
• Edition: 1st English Language Edition.
• Condition: As New
• Dust Jacket Condition: Dust Jacket Included
• Seller catalogs:
  • Philosophy

About this title

Synopsis

From an eminent scholar, a spirited introduction to one of the great polymaths in the history of Europe.

Blaise Pascal (1623–1662) is best known in the English-speaking world for his contributions to mathematics and physics, with both a triangle and a law in fluid mechanics named after him. Meanwhile, the classic film My Night at Maud’s popularized Pascal’s wager, an invitation to faith that has inspired generations of theologians. Despite the immensity of his reputation, few read him outside French schools. In A Summer with Pascal, celebrated literary critic Antoine Compagnon opens our minds to a figure somehow both towering and ignored.

Compagnon provides a bird’s-eye view of Pascal’s life and significance, making this volume an ideal introduction. Still, scholars and neophytes alike will profit greatly from his masterful readings of the Pensées―a cornerstone of Western philosophy―and the Provincial Letters, in which Pascal advanced wry theological critiques of his contemporaries. The concise, taut chapters build upon one another, easing into writings often thought to be forbidding and dour. With Compagnon as our guide, these works are not just accessible but enchanting.

A Summer with Pascal brings the early modern thinker to life in the present. In an age of profound existential doubt and assaults on truth and reason, in which religion and science are so often crudely opposed, Pascal’s sophisticated commitment to both challenges us to meet the world with true intellectual vigor.

About the Author

Antoine Compagnon, a member of the Académie française, is Blanche W. Knopf Professor of French and Comparative Literature at Columbia University and Professor Emeritus at the Collège de France. He is the author of Proust Between Two Centuries, Five Paradoxes of Modernity, A Summer with Montaigne, and numerous other books. His work has been translated into nineteen languages.