Pascal's Lettres Provinciales A Study in Polemic |
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| Author:
| Parish, Richard |
| ISBN: | 978-0-19-815155-5 |
| Publication Date: | Mar 1989 |
| Publisher: | Oxford University Press, Incorporated
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| Book Format: | Hardback |
| List Price: | AUD $180.00 |
Book Description:
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This is the first comprehensive study to appear in English of the controversial Lettres Provinciales (1656-7), Pascal's major polemical work against the Society of Jesus. The author approaches the text from two related angles. He analyses in detail the substance and structure of the letters themselves, a process which casts light on the nature of polemic as a literary genre. Adducing much material not easily accessible to scholarship, he examines the (mainly) Jesuit counter-polemic,...
More DescriptionThis is the first comprehensive study to appear in English of the controversial Lettres Provinciales (1656-7), Pascal's major polemical work against the Society of Jesus. The author approaches the text from two related angles. He analyses in detail the substance and structure of the letters themselves, a process which casts light on the nature of polemic as a literary genre. Adducing much material not easily accessible to scholarship, he examines the (mainly) Jesuit counter-polemic, thereby setting the Provinciales in the context of a broader polemical exchange. Finally, the author explores the links between the Provinciales and Pascal's Pensées, demonstrating a closer connection between the two works than is generally recognized, and offering some insight into the relationship between polemics and apologetics.