ReCognizer firms hips and buttocks ch 2

[Richard Ryan]

I believe that the allusion to Pascal subtlety relays a larger
interest in Jansenism - both as a species of Western heresy and (more
particularly) as a counter to the Jansenists great rivals, the Jesuits
- embodied here in one their temples, the Basilica at Sacre Coeur.

>
>
> http://biblioklept.org/2009/08/12/the-recognitions-part-i-william-gaddis/
>
>
> pascal's wager (ur life might be viewed as a game in terms of . . .ur soul!)
>
>
> Pascal's Wager
> In the seventeenth century the mathematician Blaise Pascal formulated his
> infamous pragmatic argument for belief in God in Pensées. The argument runs
> as follows:
>
> If you erroneously believe in God, you lose nothing (assuming that death is
> the absolute end), whereas if you correctly believe in God, you gain
> everything (eternal bliss). But if you correctly disbelieve in God, you gain
> nothing (death ends all), whereas if you erroneously disbelieve in God, you
> lose everything (eternal damnation).
>
> How should you bet? Regardless of any evidence for or against the existence
> of God, Pascal argued that failure to accept God's existence risks losing
> everything with no payoff on any count. The best bet, then, is to accept the
> existence of God.
>
> Gaddis mentions Pascal somewhere in ch 2. . .I think this is what he meant.
> . . .
>
> Anyone?
>
> ed



-- 
Richard Ryan
New York and the World
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Thanks to all who saw VTM's new production!
"Brilliant!";"Superb!" - NYTheatre-wire.com
www.kingstheplay.com