{"product_id":"wagering-on-an-ironic-god-thomas-s-hibbs-9781481306386","title":"Wagering on an Ironic God: Pascal on Faith and Philosophy","description":"\u003cp\u003e\"Philosophers startle ordinary people. Christians astonish the philosophers.\" \u003cbr\u003e--Pascal, \u003ci\u003ePens馥s\u003c\/i\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn \u003ci\u003eWagering on an Ironic God\u003c\/i\u003e Thomas S. Hibbs both startles and astonishes. He does so by offering a new interpretation of Pascal's \u003ci\u003ePens馥s\u003c\/i\u003e and by showing the importance of Pascal in and for a philosophy of religion. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eHibbs resists the temptation to focus exclusively on Pascal's famous \"wager\" or to be beguiled by the fragmentary and presumably incomplete nature of \u003ci\u003ePens馥s\u003c\/i\u003e. Instead he discovers in \u003ci\u003ePens馥s\u003c\/i\u003e a coherent and comprehensive project, one in which Pascal contributed to the ancient debate over the best way of life--a life of true happiness and true virtue. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eHibbs situates Pascal in relation to early modern French philosophers, particularly Montaigne and Descartes. These three French thinkers offer distinctly modern accounts of the good life. Montaigne advocates the private life of authentic self-expression, while Descartes favors the public goods of progressive enlightenment science and its promise of the mastery of nature. Pascal, by contrast, renders an account of the Christian religion that engages modern subjectivity and science on its own terms and seeks to vindicate the wisdom of the Christian vision by showing that it, better than any of its rivals, truly understands human nature. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThough all three philosophers share a preoccupation with Socrates, each finds in that figure a distinct account of philosophy and its aims. Pascal finds in Socrates a philosophy rich in irony: philosophy is marked by a deep yearning for wisdom that is never wholly achieved. Philosophy is a quest without attainment, a love never obtained. Absent Cartesian certainty or the ambivalence of Montaigne, Pascal's practice of Socratic irony acknowledges the disorder of humanity without discouraging its quest. Instead, the quest for wisdom alerts the seeker to the presence of a hidden God. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eGod, according to Pascal, both conceals and reveals, fulfilling the philosophical aspiration for happiness and the good life only by subverting philosophy's very self-understanding. Pascal thus wagers all on the irony of a God who both startles and astonishes wisdom's true lovers.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Thomas S. Hibbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1481306383\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781481306386\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Baylor University Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 03\/01\/2017\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 216\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.06lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.10h x 6.10w x 1.10d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eChoice\u003c\/i\u003e 11\/01\/2017","brand":"Thomas S. Hibbs","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":44129406484735,"sku":"9781481306386","price":49.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_bc7bc54f-d647-44f3-a997-79fb5dfcf523.jpg?v=1687463732","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/wagering-on-an-ironic-god-thomas-s-hibbs-9781481306386","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}