Pascalian Themes in the Thought of Peter Augustine Lawler

Abstract The essay demonstrates the influence of Pascal on the thought of the contemporary American political theorist, Peter Lawler. Pascal’s reflections on the paradoxical nature of the human condition informs Lawler’s alternative to both modern optimistic rationalism and modern skeptical despair. Pascal’s thought helps Lawler to make sense of the creature that finds itself alternately at home, and lost, in the cosmos. It also provides him with the resources to engage philosophy on its own terms without sacrificing theological conviction.