La chronologie des Pensées: une utopie critique?

The chronology of the Pensées is arguably a critical utopia. On the one hand, when it comes to absolute dating, Pascal’s texts very rarely present precise references to facts from contemporary history. On the other hand, what is the point of establishing a relative chronology when one is confronted with a work whose composition is spread over an extremely short period of time? Nevertheless, the chronology of the Pensées is a major and insufficiently explored issue in the study of Pascal’s work. Indeed, examining the chronology of the Pensées makes it possible to reassess the work of writing and classification accomplished by Pascal. Moreover, hypotheses about a detailed chronology, or even a very detailed chronology concerning the genesis of a single pensée, can contribute to pointing out some crucial and unsuspected conceptual issues in Pascal’s thought.