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Pascal's Epistemological Critique of Early Modem Political Philosophy

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Pascal's Epistemological Critique of Early Modem Political Philosophy Pascal’s Epistemological Critique of Early Modem Political Philosophy by Tyler Chamberlain A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Affairs in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Political Science Carleton University Ottawa, Ontario © 2012 Tyler Chamberlain Library and Archives Bibliotheque et Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du 1+1 Branch Patrimoine de I'edition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A0N4 Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-93551-4 Our file Notre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-93551-4 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non­ L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library and permettant a la Bibliotheque et Archives Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par telecommunication ou par I'lnternet, preter, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des theses partout dans le loan, distrbute and sell theses monde, a des fins commerciales ou autres, sur worldwide, for commercial or non­ support microforme, papier, electronique et/ou commercial purposes, in microform, autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. The author retains copyright L'auteur conserve la propriete du droit d'auteur ownership and moral rights in this et des droits moraux qui protege cette these. Ni thesis. Neither the thesis nor la these ni des extraits substantiels de celle-ci substantial extracts from it may be ne doivent etre imprimes ou autrement printed or otherwise reproduced reproduits sans son autorisation. without the author's permission. In compliance with the Canadian Conformement a la loi canadienne sur la Privacy Act some supporting forms protection de la vie privee, quelques may have been removed from this formulaires secondaires ont ete enleves de thesis. cette these. While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires aient inclus dans in the document page count, their la pagination, il n'y aura aucun contenu removal does not represent any loss manquant. of content from the thesis. Canada ABSTRACT Blaise Pascal’s critique of Descartes is in fact a critique of modem political philosophy, by virtue of modem political thought’s being based on Cartesian epistemology. According to Descartes, reason acts autonomously and without reference to other belief-forming faculties, hence its designation here as autonomous reason. Thomas Hobbes based his principles of justice on autonomous reason. The ability of reasoning that provided them was, in his system, made possible by an act of reasoning itself. This made reason autonomous by ridding it of all nonrational factors, but also made him vulnerable to Pascal’s chief criticism of Descartes, which was that due to the frailties of human beings and the inherent structure of logical thought, reason ultimately depends on pre-rational intuitions and desires. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS There are many people without whom this project would not have been completed. I am deeply grateful for the guidance of my supervisor, Dr. Emberley, who helped transform my crude idea into a meaningful argument. I am also appreciative of the many professors who have helped me thus far in my philosophical journey, including but not limited to Dr. Darby and Dr. Newell of Carleton University, and especially Professor Calvin Townsend of Trinity Western University, who first introduced me to Pascal. The feedback of my father, Dr. Paul Chamberlain, was also very helpful during the writing process, and without a doubt improved the final product. And finally, the infinite patience and encouragement of my family made this undertaking worthwhile. Raechel, your willingness to spend countless evenings and Saturday mornings alone did not go unnoticed. Cadence, the wonder with which you observe everything around you is something every philosopher should strive to emulate. TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction .................................................................................................................................................1 Chapter 1: Descartes ................................................................................................................................11 Discourse on Method: Descartes ’ Fable.........................................12 The Principles o f Philosophy ..........................................................22 Descartes ’ Rational Foundationalism ............................................26 Cartesian Politics ........................................................................... 27 Chapter 2: Pascal ......................................................................................................................................31 The Nature o f The Pensees .............................................................32 Pascal’s Anthropology ....................................................................33 Pascal’s Epistemology .................................................................... 40 Pascal’s Politics ............................................................................. 48 Chapter 3: Hobbes ................................................................................................................................... 50 Hobbes ’ Political Doctrine .............................................................51 Hobbes ’ Conception o f Philosophy ................................................55 Hobbes ’ A utonomous Reason and Pascal’s ..................... Critique 61 Chapter 4: Nietzsche ...............................................................................................................................64 Nietzsche’s Non-Rational Ground: The Will to .................. Power 64 The Politics o f the Will to Power ....................................................69 Nietzsche Legacy o f Decisionism .................................................... 74 Pascal’s Conservative Anti-Cartesianism ...................................... 77 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................... 79 Bibliography ............................................................................................................................................ 87 1 INTRODUCTION This thesis is primarily concerned with a particular conception of rationality, what I refer to as autonomous reason. According to this conception, the activity of reasoning takes place apart from and without reference to faith, will, tradition, or any other belief-forming faculties. This conception of reason was one of the products of the age of enlightenment and was articulated in various ways by philosophers in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. This study will examine its manifestations in the thought of Rene Descartes (1596-1650) and Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679), but will be especially interested in the contributions of its first great critic, Blaise Pascal (1623-1662). Descartes was the first thinker to formulate and defend an account of autonomous reason over against the prevailing scholastic paradigm of knowledge; Hobbes was, likewise, the first thinker to base a comprehensive political philosophy on it. Just as unaided, or autonomous, reason was necessary and sufficient for discovering universal truths of physics and metaphysics in Descartes’ system, so, too, did Hobbes argue that unaided reason was necessary and sufficient for the discovery and justification of the universal rules of nature by which states should be governed. Pascal occupies an interesting place in the history of philosophy. He is often treated as no more than a Christian apologist and religious thinker, and remembered for his approach to religious issues and for his famous wager. Even the eminent historian of philosophy Frederick Copleston is of the mind that “[Pascal] would probably be better classified as a Christian apologist than as a philosopher” (Copleston 1960: 153). When his approach to the traditional philosophical questions is examined, he is too often dismissed as a fideist with little to no 2 appreciation for human reason. Friedrich Nietzsche, for example, understood Pascal in this way. In Beyond Good and Evilhe described Pascal’s faith as a “protracted suicide of reason” and a “sacrifice of the intellect” (Nietzsche 1944: #46, #229).1 He thus occupies the role, in Nietzsche’s thought, of a mere “religious man.” However, Pascal has a nuanced theory of reason that accounts for the relevant human faculties and makes an important contribution to the history of political philosophy. Although he wrote as an apologist for Christianity, he saw fit to ground his apologetic in a philosophical critique of Cartesian rationalism. This critique paid special attention to Descartes’ dismissal of the role of faith in the formation of belief and responded with a lucid theory of logic that was grounded in a philosophical anthropology that drew attention to the weakness of autonomous reason. If Pascal’s critique of Descartes is valid, then it cannot only be understood as a critique of Hobbes’ system, but also as a critique of every political philosophy that relies on autonomous reason. If true, as this thesis will attempt to demonstrate, this carries significant implications for the history of modem political thought. My argument consists primarily of fleshing
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