The purpose of this study is not only to explore humans in Pascal’s Pensées, but also to deal with the theory of happiness built on his theory of faith. The first half of this book is about anthropology and the second half is about theology, to be ...
The purpose of this study is not only to explore humans in Pascal’s Pensées, but also to deal with the theory of happiness built on his theory of faith. The first half of this book is about anthropology and the second half is about theology, to be precis, the biblical studies. The former consists of a discourse about the misery and unhappiness of human existence without God, while the latter develops a discourse about the greatness and happiness of human existence with God. Through Pensées, he asserts that the ultimate purpose of life is ‘happiness.’ Ultimately, this book is about the theory of happiness.
The existential human analysis that Pascal discusses in Pensées appears as a human being in the midst of the duality and contradiction of misery and greatness. Even though the duality of humans, that is, humans without God and humans with God, human misery and greatness, unhappiness and happiness, corruption and redemption exist in contradiction and opposition, the two discourses are harmonized and integrated in the new horizon of Christian anthropology. By doing so, Pascal resolves human duality and achieves balance and unity. This is to develop ‘anthropology in pursuit of happiness’ as a new Christian anthropology.
Meanwhile, Pascal’s new Christian anthropology can be said to be an attempt to solidify his theory of faith. According to him, even though