"Man is but a reed, the weakest in nature, but he is a thinking reed" is probably Blaise Pascal's most famous saying that many people have heard.
What is this phrase about? What is the meaning of it? Why did she become famous? These and many other questions invariably arise for those people who are characterized by curiosity and the desire to get to the bottom of what would not be discussed.
Who is Blaise Pascal?
In the middle of the first summer month, namely June 19, at the beginning of the 17th century, a boy was born in the unremarkable French town of Clermont-Ferrand. His parents gave him a rather strange name - Blaise.
The child appeared in the family of the head of the local branch office for the collection of taxes, Mr. Pascal. His usual name was Etienne. The mother of the future luminary of French science was Antoinette Begon, daughter and heiress of the seneschal of the province of Auvergne. The future scientist was not the only child, in the family, besides him, a couple of girls were growing up.
In 1631, the whole family managed to move from a quiet provincial town to Paris, where the scientist died in August 1662.
What did Pascal do?
Every high school student knows Pascal's name. It is because of the information received about him in the framework of the school curriculum that the activities of this person in most cases are associated exclusively with mathematics and other exact sciences.
Meanwhile, this scientist studied not only physics, mechanics, mathematics, but also literature, philosophy and much more. The scientist was educated by his father, who himself was a famous mathematician who made a significant contribution to the development of this science.
The scientist made many discoveries that are important for mathematics, mechanics, optics, physics. But besides this, Pascal was fascinated by literature, as well as many religious and philosophical questions concerning the place of man in the world. The result of research in these areas was a lot of work containing specific concepts and ideas, including the famous “thinking reed” of Pascal.
In which work does a scientist compare a person to a reed?
This question is the most relevant for anyone who is not familiar with the works of Pascal, but has heard an expression comparing a person to a reed, and would like to read the exact work from which the quote is taken.
The book is called Thoughts on Religion and Someother items." The original French title is Pensées sur la religion et sur quelques autres sujets. But much more often this philosophical work is published under a name that sounds simple - "Thoughts".
This work saw the light only after the death of the philosopher, writer and scientist. In fact, it is not a book. This edition is a collection of all the recordings, drafts, sketches that Pascal's family discovered after his death.
What does this comparison say?
This philosophical metaphor is actually not just an artistic comparison, it actually defines the fact that a person, as a thinking being, should not consider himself to be anything special. He still remains only a grain, a particle of the Universe, the same as sand, stones or reeds. He is not like the Creator standing above all things. Man himself is a part of creation and only.
Reason, the ability to think - that is a distinctive feature of people, but does not give them a reason for ex altation. Trying to elevate himself above the Universe, a person opposes himself to everything that exists and, of course, breaks like a reed under blows or a strong gust of wind. The thinking reed is a metaphor that defines the essence of what a person is. But the meaning of the expression is not limited to this, it is deeper.
What did the philosopher want to say?
Giving a person such an artistic and rather metaphorical definition as a “thinking reed”, a scientistsupplemented it with a reflection on destruction. The scientist considered the destruction of man as a kind of philosophical paradox.
On the one hand, man is the only creature of the Creator with reason, capable of thinking and cognition. But on the other hand, a mere smallness is enough to destroy it - a drop, a breath. There is no need for all the forces of the Universe to take up arms against a person so that he disappears. This seems to be evidence of the insignificance of people, but everything is not as simple as it seems.
"Thinking reed" is not a phrase composed of random words. The reed is easy to break, that is, directly destroy. However, the philosopher adds the word "thinking". This suggests that the destruction of the physical shell does not necessarily entail the death of thought. And the immortality of thought is nothing but ex altation.
In other words, a person is simultaneously both a particle of everything that exists and the “crown of creation”. Even if all the power of the universe falls on him, he will be able to realize, understand and comprehend it. Pascal writes about this.
How did the expression become famous in our country?
"There is a melodiousness in the waves of the sea…" - this is not a line from a song or a poem. This is the name of the poem by F. I. Tyutchev. The work balances on the verge of two genres - elegy and lyrics. It is filled with philosophical reflection on the essence of man, where his place in the world around him and what is the role in everything that happens around.
Tyutchev wrote this verse in one of the most difficult periods of his life. The poet mournedloss of his beloved, and besides this, he began to experience he alth problems. At the same time, that is, in the 19th century, there was great interest in philosophical thought in Russia. Of course, among creative, intelligent and simply thinking people, not only the works of compatriots were in demand. Of great interest were the works, reflections and studies of Western scientists, both contemporaries and those who lived earlier. Of course, among them were the works of Blaise Pascal. Of course, without any doubt, Fyodor Ivanovich Tyutchev was familiar with them.
In fact, Tyutchev's work is very much in tune with Pascal's thoughts. It is about the drama that is characteristic of the dissonance of a person's self-perception and his objective physiological place in the world around him. The poet raises the same questions as the French philosopher. However, Tyutchev does not give an unequivocal answer to them. The work of the Russian poet ends with rhetoric, a question.
But of course, the phrase “thinking reed” has firmly entered the Russian vocabulary not at all due to the consonance of the thoughts and antitheses set forth in the poem with the content and essence of the work of the French scientist. In the work of Tyutchev, this definition of human nature is simply used. The poem ends with the line "And the thinking reed murmurs?".
