Blaise Pascal and the Platonic Heart
Blaise Pascal’s philosophical and theological works have long been studied through the lens of his Jansenist affiliations and his famous critique of the Jesuits in the Provincial Letters. However, a deeper examination of Pascal’s central epistemological concept – the heart (le coeur) – reveals the influence of the ancient Platonic tradition, mediated primarily through the thought of St. Augustine.
Philosophical Influences
Platonic Thought
The Platonic tradition, with its emphasis on the intuitive, integrative faculty of the nous (often translated as “intellect” or “mind”), stands in contrast to the more discursive, analytical reason associated with Aristotelian philosophy. Plotinus (c.205-270 CE), the seminal Neoplatonist thinker, conceived of the nous as a dynamic unity of being, knowing, and willing – not merely an abstract, dispassionate cognitive power. This holistic, experiential understanding of intellect heavily influenced the Christian Platonism of Augustine (354-430 CE), who in turn became a major source for Pascal’s own philosophical and theological framework.
Augustinian Theology
Augustine’s concept of the cor (the Latin word for “heart”) bears striking similarities to Plotinus’ nous. For Augustine, the heart represents the deepest, most integrated aspect of the human soul, encompassing not just reason, but also the will, imagination, and affective dimensions. Crucially, Augustine saw the heart as the faculty by which the individual apprehends divine truth and experiences a mystical union with God – something Pascal would later echo in his own notion of the heart.
Jansenist Doctrine
The Jansenists, with whom Pascal was closely affiliated, were heavily influenced by Augustinian theology, particularly its emphasis on human sinfulness, the necessity of divine grace, and predestination. While the Jesuits sought to accommodate Christian doctrine to the changing social and cultural conditions of the 17th century, the Jansenists resisted what they saw as the dilution of true faith. Pascal’s defense of Jansenism, as expressed in the Provincial Letters, must be understood against this backdrop of theological controversy.
Pascal’s Writings
Pensées
In his unfinished work Pensées, Pascal grapples with the human condition, the nature of truth, and the existence of God. The heart emerges as a central epistemological concept, contrasted with the more limited, discursive reason (esprit de géométrie). For Pascal, the heart is the faculty by which we intuitively grasp first principles and apprehend divine realities that transcend the reach of analytical thought.
Provincial Letters
Pascal’s scathing critique of the Jesuits in the Provincial Letters centers on their perceived laxity in moral theology, particularly their embrace of probabilism – the notion that one can follow a less probable moral opinion as long as it has some foundation. By championing the Jansenist emphasis on the depravity of human nature and the paramount necessity of divine grace, Pascal sought to defend the possibility of objective moral truth against the Jesuits’ perceived moral relativism.
Treatise on the Vacuum
In his lesser-known Treatise on the Vacuum, Pascal defends the experimental method against those who would subordinate it to scholastic Aristotelian reasoning. This work further underscores Pascal’s dedication to empirical observation and intuitive apprehension of truth, in contrast to the more deductive, systematizing tendencies of his Jesuit opponents.
Platonic Themes in Pascal’s Work
Dualism of Heart and Mind
Pascal’s distinction between the heart and the mind (or reason) reflects the Platonic tension between intuitive, holistic knowledge and discursive, analytical reasoning. The heart, for Pascal, is the higher faculty by which we grasp the “first principles” of existence, while reason is limited to more derivative, step-by-step logical proofs.
The Search for Truth
At the core of Pascal’s thought lies a profound concern for truth – both metaphysical and moral. His rejection of Jesuit probabilism stems from a conviction that there are objective truths that can be known, albeit not always through the discursive methods of reason alone. The heart emerges as the vehicle by which we can apprehend these higher, more elusive truths.
The Condition of Man
Pascal’s reflections on the “wretchedness” and “greatness” of the human condition echo the Platonic/Augustinian view of man as a fallen, fragmented being, yet one capable of a mystical reunion with the divine through the faculty of the heart. This vision of the human person as a paradoxical unity of the material and the spiritual, the finite and the infinite, permeates Pascal’s writings.
The Jesuit Debate
The Role of Reason
The Jesuits, with their emphasis on rhetorical persuasion and casuistical reasoning, were seen by Pascal and the Jansenists as prioritizing a narrowly analytical, geometrical mode of thought (esprit de géométrie) over the more intuitive, holistic understanding associated with the heart. This debate over the proper role of reason in matters of faith and morality was central to the broader Jesuit-Jansenist conflict.
Moral Theology
The Jansenists’ condemnation of Jesuit probabilism reflected a deeper disagreement over the foundations of moral theology. For Pascal, true morality could only be grounded in the objective truths apprehended by the heart, not the shifting opinions tolerated by Jesuit casuistry. The Jansenist emphasis on human depravity and the necessity of divine grace was seen as a bulwark against the perceived moral laxity of the Jesuits.
The Influence of Port-Royal
The Jansenist community of Port-Royal, with which Pascal was closely associated, became a hub of opposition to the Jesuits. The posthumous publication of Pascal’s Pensées by Port-Royal was viewed as a continuation of this battle, with Pascal’s metaphysics and epistemology – centered on the Platonic heart – serving as a key part of the Jansenist defense of truth against Jesuit tendencies towards fragmentation and relativism.
In Blaise Pascal, we see a powerful synthesis of ancient Platonic and Augustinian philosophical and theological traditions, refracted through the lens of the 17th-century Jesuit-Jansenist debate. Pascal’s concept of the heart, with its intuitive grasp of first principles and direct experience of the divine, stands as a profound challenge to the more narrowly analytical reason championed by his Jesuit opponents. Explored in this light, Pascal’s works offer rich insights not only into the intellectual battles of his own time, but into the perennial human struggle to reconcile the material and the spiritual, the finite and the infinite. To learn more about our own winemaking journey, visit www.winegardeninn.com.