Editing Blaise Pascal (section)

=== The ''Provincial Letters'' ===
{{Main|Lettres provinciales}}

Beginning in 1656–57, Pascal published his memorable attack on [[casuistry]], a popular [[Ethics|ethical]] method used by [[Catholic Church|Catholic]] thinkers in the early modern period (especially the [[Jesuits]], and in particular [[Antonio Escobar y Mendoza|Antonio Escobar]]). Pascal denounced casuistry as the mere use of complex reasoning to justify moral laxity and all sorts of [[sin]]s. The 18-letter series was published between 1656 and 1657 under the pseudonym '''Louis de Montalte''' and incensed [[Louis XIV of France|Louis XIV]]. The king ordered that the book be [[book burning|shredded and burnt]] in 1660. In 1661, in the midst of the [[formulary controversy]], the Jansenist school at Port-Royal was condemned and closed down; those involved with the school had to sign a 1656 [[papal bull]] condemning the teachings of Jansen as heretical. The final letter from Pascal, in 1657, had defied [[Alexander VII]] himself. Even Pope Alexander, while publicly opposing them, nonetheless was persuaded by Pascal's arguments.

Aside from their religious influence, the ''Provincial Letters'' were popular as a literary work. Pascal's use of humor, mockery, and vicious satire in his arguments made the letters ripe for public consumption, and influenced the prose of later French writers like [[Voltaire]] and [[Jean-Jacques Rousseau]].

It is in the ''Provincial Letters'' that Pascal made his oft-quoted apology for writing a long letter, as he had not had time to write a shorter one.
From Letter XVI, as translated by Thomas M'Crie:
'Reverend fathers, my letters were not wont either to be so prolix, or to follow so closely on
one another. Want of time must plead my excuse for both of these faults. The present letter is
a very long one, simply because I had no leisure to make it shorter.'

Charles Perrault wrote of the ''Letters'': "Everything is there—purity of language, nobility of thought, solidity in reasoning, finesse in raillery, and throughout an ''agrément'' not to be found anywhere else."<ref>Charles Perrault, ''Parallèle des Anciens et des Modernes'' (Paris, 1693), Vol. I, p. 296.</ref>