Antideterminism and human nature in blaise pascal’s philosophy

Abstract

The aim of this article is to approach the anthropological conception of the French philosopher Blaise Pascal, present in the Pensées, focusing on the nondeterministic attitude towards man. In this work the French philosopher presents man as an insignificant being inside an infinite universe, and there is no possibility that it has a privileged position in the cosmo. In this case, man does not have an ontological situation, which can confer some relevance to him within the universe. On the other hand, the principles of the practical sphere, according to author, are no more than principles made by habit, and in this sense all the principles that ground human action should not be considered natural and absolutely necessary. Faced with this picture, it is possible to perceive in Pascal's philosophy what we call an antideterminist posture about man, because his existence has no relevance in the cosmological sense, just as there are no absolute principles that can guide him in a necessary and practice dimension. However, from a reflection on the human contradictions, present in the phenomenon of Amusement (Divertissement), it is possible to obtain a reference that allows to understand the man, this reference is a Christian principle, original sin.