Pascal#
Summary#
Pascal exemplifies a profound thinker whose faith Nietzsche describes as “a continuous suicide of reason” - a tough, worm-like intellect that cannot be slain at once but gradually submits through self-denial. He represents the tragedy of a higher human type damaged by Christianity, someone who possessed an immense intellectual conscience yet chose the path of “sacrifizia dell’ intelleto” (sacrifice of the intellect). For Nietzsche, Pascal stands as a prime example of what Christianity’s demand for self-mutilation and contrition has done to Europe’s finest minds.