HoP 484 You Bet Your Life: Pascal’s Wager

Should we gamble on belief in God to have a chance at infinite reward?

Blaise Pascal was a pioneering scientist and deeply spiritual religious thinker; what united these two sides of his thought?

Why did Sébastian Basso and Pierre Gassendi think ancient atomism was the key to developing a new, modern science?

Gassendi’s path from skepticism to “baptized Epicureanism.”

So-called “libertines” like Mothe le Vayer revive ancient skepticism, provoking a backlash from Mersenne and Arnauld. Were they right to see the skeptics as anti-religious?

An interview exploring Descartes' interest in medicine, how his medical ideas relate to his dualism, and his influence on medical science.

From comets to blood transfusions, embryology, and the debate over the pineal gland: Descartes’ impact on science, especially medicine.

Why Cartesianism appealed to women and became the inspiration for a pioneering feminist, Poullain de la Barre; and why Cartesianism was not the only option for women philosophers of the age.

Early Cartesians including Cordemoy and de La Forge develop but also challenge Descartes’ ideas, defending atomism and occasionalism.

We finish our look at Elisabeth of Bohemia and Descartes by talking to Ariane Schneck about their correspondence, focusing on the mind-body problem and the passions.