ABSTRACT

This is not the first time, nor is it presumably the last, that an essay on Blaise Pascal (1623-62) and Søren Kierkegaard appears entitled with a conjunction of their names. A mere cursory glance at the literature in this field of research might persuade one to accept one of two stances on thus entitling comparative research on the two authors. Perhaps researchers are struck by an inordinate lack of imagination. The conjunction of Pascal and Kierkegaard may cover all sorts of considerations of the relative importance of the former on the latter, and thus by the conjunction one does not promise too much or too little. However, let us consider that influence might not be emphasized. The researcher will then try to convey that what the reader can reasonably expect is a consideration of two authors who are seen to be related in virtue of their projects more than in virtue of one influencing the other. The striking similarities are thus, on account of the reader, more than reasonably supported by the sources. (Another stance is also possible, and we shall dwell on that at the end of the essay, but it is not available on a cursory glance.)

What is striking is the almost universal acknowledgement that Pascal did not influence Kierkegaard’s thinking.1 That may be so, but it raises important questions. Firstly, we may wonder what should be made of Kierkegaard’s interest in Pascal and the Port Royal criticism of the Jesuits. Secondly, such refusal of influence leads to the question of why we should bother with essays that nonetheless try to compare

Pascal and Kierkegaard.2 The aims of this essay are thus to describe the sources and to review some select pieces of comparative research.