♣ Seven of Clubs
the moral, experiential and pragmatic family
Argument from the Contrarieties in Man
Blaise Pascal
Pensées
EvidentialConcludes that a feature of the world is better explained by one hypothesis than by a named rival.
- Argument form
- Inference to the best explanation (two rivals eliminated; the fallen-creation hypothesis fits both facts)
- Concludes to
- Better explanation (man's greatness and wretchedness; explanans is a Creator from whom man has fallen)
- Premise ground
- Epistemic (which hypothesis accounts for both the idea and the failure to attain it)
- Modal strength
- None (comparative explanation)
- What it licenses
- Period
- Seventeenth Century (1670, posthumous)
- Tradition
- Augustinian (Jansenist)
Further reading
- Source text, public domain
PenséesFR-0631136102_-_Pensées_de_M._Pascal_édition_originale_1670_-_Ep_0051.pdf - A scholarly account
Read an exposition of the argument - A principal objection
Read the objection in full
This formulation is ours, composed from the primary source and compressed to fit the card; the argument admits of other statements. Objections have been made to every argument in the deck; where one is linked above, it is chosen by us, not written by us.
ergocards.com/contrarieties
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