Blaise Pascal’s Night of Fire

TODAY IN PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY: Blaise Pascal’s Night of Fire

On Monday evening, 23 November 1654—371 days ago today—mathematician, scientist, and philosopher Blaise Pascal was overcome by a mystical experience. Pascal wrote out an account of his mystical experience and sewed it into his coat, which he wore until he died.

Pascal was a genius and a polymath who made contributions to natural science, mathematics, and literature, but after his mystical experience he abandoned all other work to focus on religious apologetics. In this episode I consider Pascal’s mystical vision and other altered forms of consciousness as influences that shape history, and not always for the better.

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#philosophy #history #PhilosophyofHistory #BlaisePascal #Voltaire #mysticism #MysticalExperience #AlteredStates #entheogens #hallucinogens