My supervisor (esteemed author of Peace, Toleration and Decay: The Ecclesiology of Later Stuart Dissent) commented that having read (what was then) Ch.4 of my thesis, there didn’t appear to be any Blaise Pascal in it. This was, apparently, an oversight on my part.
So, this afternoon, while everyone else was out, Blaise and I hung out together and wrote 500 words to fit into the section on the Enlightenment and the imago Dei. He was good company, and I think the words add something to that section. At the very least they connect to the central theme of the thesis – narratives of apprehension.
Sheesh, my supervisor was right, as the other one was the other month. One suggested I needed more Pascal, the other suggested I needed more Schleiermacher. Both sections look good. Must buy them coffee this week.
Anyway, here’s a bit from Blaise’s Pensées on human beings that made it into the section,
It is dangerous to explain too clearly to man how like he is to the animals without pointing out his greatness. It is also dangerous to make too much of his greatness without his vileness. It is still more dangerous to leave him in ignorance of both, but it is most valuable to represent both to him. Man must not be allowed to believe that he is equal either to animals or to angels, not to be unaware of either, but he must know both.
