362 Reviews

Blaise Pascal on Duplicity, Sin and the Fall: The Secret Instinct by William Wood (Oxford:
Oxford University Press, 2013), vi 1 243 pp.
In this book, William Wood wants to go beyond historical exegesis of Pascals text. He claims to
offer a constructive theology that should be labeled as Pascalian (1718). This is not a common
approach in Pascal research. The dominance of the philosophical and literary interest in Pascal, certainly in France, seems rather to defuse the (systematic) theological content of his work, so
closely related to Jansenism and therefore (somewhat) suspect. Hence, even in the twentieth century, the theological position of the Jansenists was fiercely rejected by authoritative authors like
Henri de Lubac. Although there is a positive use of certain elements of Pascals theological thought
by some philosophers, notably by Jean-Luc Marion, a more general description and evaluation,
let alone a constructive use of his theological stance, today is rare. As far as I know, the dark interpretation of Pascals theology by Kolakowski (1998) is never refuted by a more empathetic and constructive approach to Pascals theology. William Wood offers some important elements for such a
refutation in this book. His theological stance is related to a small group of authors, like Miel and
Wetsel, who have developed a more positive understanding of Pascals theology. But Wood goes
beyond their historical approaches when he elaborates Pascals contribution to the debate on selfdeception, discussing especially the analytical-philosophical literature on this theme.
In the first chapter, Wood paints Pascals perspective on fallen humanity in close relation to
Augustines theology as an evaluative Fall. The Fall implies a complete disturbance of the order of
human loves and the resistance to the truth about God and ourselves. This leads to what Wood calls
duplicity, the construction of a false (duplicated) self (moi), characterized by divertissement
and ennui as frustrated desire for happiness that can only be found in God. In chapter two, this
perspective is elaborated in the field of politics, with help of the Pascals interpretations of Althusser
and Bourdieu. Although especially Bourdieus reading of social construction opens a window to
Pascals relevance, Wood underlines the differences between these authors and the specific theological character of Pascals analysis. Because Pascals account of state power grows out of his account
of the Fall, his political theology is also anti-utopian and properly critical . . . every actually-existing
society will reproduce the duplicity and concupiscence that are the results of the Fall (8687). In
the third chapter Wood captures, with the help of George Eliots character Bulstrode (Middlemarch),
some important characteristics of what Pascal called moi and the self-deceptive dynamics in
which it is involved. In the next chapter, this analysis is connected to the debate on moral theology.
The question about the personal responsibility leads to a better understanding of the role of deceitful imagination and persuasion. According to Pascal, pervasive duplicity is a necessary condition
of political order, successful social relationships, and even of the formation of the self. Cumulatively,
in discussing these three domains, Pascal builds up a picture of the human subject as one who is
habituated to deception because it is the essential glue that holds his world together (123). Wood
concludes that Pascals moi is the result of a double imaginary: we not only turn away from evident truths about God and the self, but we also steep ourselves in imaginative fantasy that says we
are happy, we do justice, etc. (144). In the fifth chapter, the author turns to the philosophical debate
on self-deception, starting with the article of Demos entitled Lying to Oneself (1960). Wood shows
that most of the participants in the ensuing debate on self-deception rejected what Demos called
lying to oneself, and qualified his strong understanding of self-deception as highly paradoxical (172). Self-deception, therefore, is often framed differently, for example as the formation of
a false belief in the face of evidence that favors a contrary belief. Wood claims that an important
motivation for this rejection of self-deception is the idea of the perpetually holistic selftransparency. He shows that Pascal does not support this claim about human (self) awareness. In
reaction to the philosophical debate, in chapter six Wood develops a Pascalian model of sin as selfdeception, in which self-deception is understood as an ongoing activity of morally culpable selfpersuasion. Here, Wood builds on the central role of persuasion in Pascals thought. Other elements
of Pascals Pensees, like the internal rhetoric and what Wood calls Acting-As-If, are also used to
explain how the construction of a false self is functioning and why it should be qualified as morally
wrong. In the final chapter, the author explains his understanding of Pascals way out (what he calls
the way back) of the process of self-deception. Here, Wood relies again on the centrality of persuasion and shows how Pascals Jansenist understanding of grace leads to a subjectivity without
duplicity, a fresh understanding of the self in the imitation of Christ.
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Reviews 363
The ambition of William Wood to write Pascalian theology is commendable and really worthwhile for several reasons. Here, I just underline the relevance of Pascals thought for the ongoing
search for multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary approaches. In Pascals work someone can find
much inspiration for what Sarah Coakley recently has dubbed theology totale. Although Wood recognizes this tremendous potential of Pascal, he is not able to keep this broad horizon until the end of
the book, as I will argue below. Nevertheless, Wood proves himself a very skillful and precise reader
of Pascals texts. Additionally, he is knowledgeable on the Pascal literature, both the English and the
French. The constructive connection of these two worlds of Pascal interpretation is one of the important contributions of Woods book. The first and especially the sixth chapter show the great insight
of the author in Pascals analysis of the dynamics of sin and the construction of a (duplicated and
modern) self. Especially noteworthy is the attention paid to (self) persuasion, as related to Pascals
understanding of grace. This is of great value for the relevance of Pascal for actual theology.
The high quality of Woods interpretation notwithstanding, it is somewhat disappointing that his
challenging intention to develop Pascalian theology is, at least from my perspective, not satisfactorily fulfilled. With the promising dialogue with Bourdieu and Althusser, Wood makes a great start
to include sociological and political scientific perspectives. Although I agree with Wood that Pascals
perspective is theological, in contrast to Althusser and Bourdieu, the author does not really elaborate
on the theoretical importance of this proper Pascalian element. The third way between utopian and
relativist approaches, which Wood claims to be Pascals, gets sidetracked in a somewhat opaque
presentation of Pascals appreciation of the Church. Although the last chapter of the book bears
some promising elements for a Pascalian alternative in this field, by then, however, Wood seems to
have lost interest in the dialogue with the social sciences. The reinforcement of the understanding of
Pascals moi through the analysis of Eliots character Bulstrode in the next chapter follows another
vein of a theology totale. Wood shows a specific psychological-orientated interest in Bulstrode, yet
without paying attention to the artistic, cultural, and historical elements. Apart from the fact that the
cultural and historical distance between Pascal and Eliot makes Bulstrode a less evident choice than
a character from seventeenth-century French literature (theater!), the importance of the artistic styling of the characters by both authors is not really taken into account. The narrowing of the focus
which starts at the end of chapter twois taken further. In general, Woods approach is characterized by a lack of attention to the historical context. Yet, the relevance of Pascals thought on selfdeception cannot be isolated from the early-modern context and the birth of the modern self. This,
and the content of chapters five and six, makes one think that the real interest of Wood is analyticalphilosophical. What appeared to be a theology totale turns out to be an analytical perspective on the
moral culpability of self-deception. Although the themes mentioned in the final chapter indicate a
broader potential relevance of Pascals thought, Wood is not finally able to articulate this systematically because of the specific focus on human agency in the chapters five and six. Pascals expression
that knowledge of our selves is only possible by Jesus Christ, becomes therefore in the first place a
moral principle instead of an epistemological and experimental truth.
The way back mentioned in the last chapter indicates a better way to study Pascals understanding of self-deception without losing the broad perspective of Pascalian theology. This way
begins with Christ and his two natures as the only possibility of obtaining knowledge of the
human self and its sinful duplicity.
Klaas Bom
Senior Researcher
Protestant Theological University
Amsterdam - Groningen
The Netherlands
Email: k.l.bom@pthu.nl

Memory in Augustines Theological Anthropology by Paige E. Hochschild (Oxford:

Oxford University Press, 2012), viii 1 251 pp.
It is well-known that, for Augustine, memory forms an integral part of the triadic structure of
memory, intellect, and will, by which the human soul images God and through which the soul
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