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Work #319 · Late

Provincial Letters

Blaise Pascal
1656-57 · French
Series of polemical letters · French Jansenist theology

Pascal's 1656-57 defence of Jansenist theology against Jesuit casuistry — the founding text of modern French prose

Attribute Fingerprint

Rows where works disagree are highlighted in gold. The full ontology grid is shown.

Attribute Provincial Letters (Late)
Time · Extent Infinite
Time · Ontological Status Substantival
Time · Grain Continuous
Time · Freedom Non-Deterministic
Time · Traversability Linear
Time · Dimensionality One
Time · Direction Uni-directional
Space · Extent Infinite
Space · Ontological Status Substantival
Space · Curvature Flat
Space · Dimensionality Three
Space · Locality Local
Matter · Extent Finite
Matter · Ontological Status Substantival
Matter · Conservation Conserved
Matter · Dimensionality Three
Matter · Locality Local
Observer · Time Instance Single
Observer · Space Instance Single
Observer · Knowledge Extent Partial
Observer · Knowledge Retainment Total
Observer · Physicality Embodied
Observer · Agency Both
Observer · Number Plural
Observer · Metaphysical Agency Personal
Observer · Moral Authority Scripture
Observer · Theological Method
Energy · Extent Infinite
Energy · Ontological Status Substantival
Energy · Conservation Conserved
Energy · Dispersibility Irreversible
Information · Ontological Status Substantival
Information · Cosmic Conservation Conserved
Information · Personal Conservation Conserved
Information · Granularity Continuous

Dimension-by-Dimension Evidence

What each work's passages reveal about its stance on each of the six dimensions.

Time

Provincial Letters

Historical-controversy time of mid-17th-century French Catholic theology.

Space

Provincial Letters

French Catholic ecclesiastical space; Port-Royal.

Matter

Provincial Letters

Embodied Christian moral life.

Observer

Provincial Letters

Christian moral subject; Pascal as polemicist.

Energy

Provincial Letters

Polemical-rhetorical energies; theological energies of grace.

Information

Provincial Letters

Jansenist theological tradition preserved.

Internal Tensions

Where each work's argument pulls against itself.

Provincial Letters

The Jansenist controversy was resolved in favour of the Jesuit position; Jansenism was condemned. But the Provincial Letters' literary-polemical achievement remains decisive.