Pascal’s Pensées: Writings on Grace

At this meeting we will be discussing the Pensées of Pascal, and in particular, Pascal's attempt to reconcile free will with God's grace in his Writings on Grace, an edition of which can be found here (link).

Next week we'll continue discussing On the Social Contract, which is the culmination of Rousseau's work in the realm of political philosophy. We'll be discussing Book 2 and 3, and we'll continue our discussion of the distinction between the "will of all" and "the general will".

“Man was born free, but everywhere he is in chains. This man believes that he is the master of others, and still he is more of a slave than they are. How did that transformation take place? I don't know. How may the restraints on man become legitimate? I do believe I can answer that question…”

Rousseau wrote on a wide variety of subjects, but the group will first delve into his political theory. And, while the group will concentrate on Rousseau, we may also take a look at other writers of the French Enlightenment; i.e. Montesquieu, Diderot, and, although he was a bit earlier, Montaigne.

This is the translation of the Rousseau we will be using in the meetings: https://annas-archive.org/md5/9c70d9441bf70f896c87a1ccd668c0bd

This is the edition of the Pascal we'll use in the meeting:
https://annas-archive.org/md5/6f44e8b57466bc72a7dac5b6b1ec1e96