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Chapter 2 - The Heart

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 February 2026

Yuval Avnur
Affiliation:
Scripps College, California
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Summary

For Pascal, our knowledge of everything from geometry and the external world to God comes not from reason or experience alone, but rather it requires a feeling of “the heart.” This central notion in Pascal, which is underexplored in the literature, is the key to understanding his philosophy. This chapter develops a “cordate” (or heart-shaped) epistemology to show how the heart replaces reason and experience as the foundation in Pascal. Once we piece together an account of the heart – no easy task, since Pascal’s notes do not explicitly define it – we can trace its role in generating belief. The heart is, roughly, an affective orientation that is the seat of the will, which in turn affects experience, feelings, and perception. It even generates its own reasons. This affective orientation includes, for example, what one fundamentally loves, hates, fears, and so on. We can then see how a feeling of the heart can generate knowledge of first principles, that we are not dreaming, and, once we consider the role of the heart in Pascal’s Augustinian theology, a kind of religious engagement with the world and ultimately a love (and consequently knowledge) of God. Applications to life today are also explored.

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2026

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  • The Heart
  • Yuval Avnur, Scripps College, California
  • Book: Why Read Pascal Today?
  • Online publication: 26 February 2026
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009321495.003
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  • The Heart
  • Yuval Avnur, Scripps College, California
  • Book: Why Read Pascal Today?
  • Online publication: 26 February 2026
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009321495.003
Available formats
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Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • The Heart
  • Yuval Avnur, Scripps College, California
  • Book: Why Read Pascal Today?
  • Online publication: 26 February 2026
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009321495.003
Available formats
×