Quadricentennial of Blaise Pascal’s Birth: 1623-2023 (Bucharest)
Quadricentenaire de la naissance de Blaise Pascal : 1623-2023 (Bucarest)
Published on Monday, December 19, 2022
Abstract
On the occasion of Blaise Pascal’s birth (1623-1662), the Foundations of European Modernity (FME) Research Center and the Department of French Language and Literature of the University of Bucharest, the Gilles Gaston Granger Center (CGGG) of the University of Aix-Marseille and the Department of Philosophy of the University of Szeged (Hungary), is organizing an international conference. In the wake of the work carried out by the FME Research Center in the field of intellectual, religious, and philosophical history of the early modern period, this event will bring together early scholars and specialists from various disciplines to discuss Pascal’s work and thought, their sources and influences, as well as their past and present receptions.
Announcement
Conference at the University of Bucharest, 19 & 20 May 2023
Argument
On the occasion of Blaise Pascal’s birth (1623–1662), the Foundations of European Modernity (FME) Research Center and the Department of French Language and Literature of the University of Bucharest, the Gilles Gaston Granger Center (CGGG) of the University of Aix-Marseille and the Department of Philosophy of the University of Szeged (Hungary), is organizing an international conference at the University of Bucharest on May 19–20th, 2023. In the wake of the work carried out by the FME Research Center in the field of intellectual, religious, and philosophical history of the early modern period, this event will bring together early scholars and specialists from various disciplines to discuss Pascal’s work and thought, their sources and influences, as well as their past and present receptions.
In a non-exhaustive way, three thematic axes are proposed which can be approached jointly in a transversal perspective.
A first line of questioning concerns the epistemological dimension of Pascal’s work and thought. This could be considered, for example, from the point of view of the history and philosophy of science, through the examination of the historical and contextual situation of the physical and mathematical work as well as in the conceptual elucidation of the conditions of the emergence of scientific production. Pascalian epistemology can also be examined in its gnoseological dimension. Considered in the sense of method, this approach should lead to a clarification of Pascal’s relation to pre-existing theories of knowledge, to "logic" or to the “dialectics” tradition of the Renaissance. One could also extend the understanding of epistemology beyond the strictly scientific work, to encompass rhetoric, theological polemics, reasons, and modalities of religious belief as well as biblical hermeneutics.
Insofar as Pascal’s epistemological reflections accompany a discourse on the nature of the knowing subject, we will pay close attention to the various elements that outline the anthropological aspects of Pascal’s thought. In continuation of the first one, this second axis proposes to gather under a common perspective the developments inherent to the study of man, i.e., the conception of human nature whether it is presented with a gnoseological, existential or apologetic aim. In this way, the progressive constitution of Pascalian anthropology combining the essential contrarieties of human nature with a criticism of the self, will be considered. Here again, the various sources and influences that outline Pascal’s anthropological considerations can be explored.
Finally, a third thematic axis will supplement the previous ones and will be articulated around the issue relating to the establishment and the diffusion of the Pascalian text. Regarding the unfinished, incomplete, and inchoate character of many writings, making the genetic analysis of the work a necessary condition for the restitution of the thought, particular attention will be paid to the material and philological criticism of the manuscripts and copies that direct the editorial decisions. In this perspective, works that draw up a critical historiography of editing and commentary as well as those that propose to identify the different issues at stake in the translation of Pascalian writing will also be appreciated.
Fifty years after the studies collected in the Annals of the University of Bucharest on the 350th anniversary of Pascal’s birth (Analele Universitᾰtii Bucarești. Literaturᾰ Universalᾰ si Comparatᾰ, 1, 1974), this conference intends to extend the enterprise of disseminating Pascalian thought in Romania (see bibliography indicated by: Horia Lazar, “Pascal in Romania [1965–1993]”, Courrier du Centre International Blaise Pascal, 15, 1993, 8–10). This event is organized in partnership with the Centre Régional Francophone d’Études Avancées en Sciences Sociales (CRESAS), the Institut Français de Roumanie and the Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie.
Submission guidelines
Proposals should be sent in the form of an abstract of 200 words with a title and a short biography to vlad.alexandrescu@lls.unibuc.ro
by 20 February 2023.
Comité scientifique
- Alberto Frigo, University of Milan
- Vlad Alexandrescu, University of Bucharest
- Tamás Pavlovits, University of Szeged
- Thomas Bellon, University of Aix-Marseille
Subjects
- Thought (Main category)
- Periods > Early modern > Seventeenth century
Places
- Bucharest, Romania
Event attendance modalities
Full on-site event
Date(s)
- Monday, February 20, 2023
Keywords
- Blaise Pascal, pensée
Contact(s)
- Thomas Bellon
courriel : thomas [dot] bellon [at] univ-amu [dot] fr - Vlad Alexandrescu
courriel : vlad [dot] alexandrescu [at] lls [dot] unibuc [dot] ro
Information source
- Thomas Bellon
courriel : thomas [dot] bellon [at] univ-amu [dot] fr
License
This announcement is licensed under the terms of Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal.
To cite this announcement
« Quadricentennial of Blaise Pascal’s Birth: 1623-2023 (Bucharest) », Call for papers, Calenda, Published on Monday, December 19, 2022, https://doi.org/10.58079/1a1o
