The Good Life in the Scientific Revolution: Descartes, Pascal, Leibniz, and the Cultivation of Virtue
Jones, Matthew L. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2006. Amid the unrest, dislocation, and uncertainty of seventeenth-century Europe, readers seeking consolation and assurance turned to philosophical and scientific books that offered ways of conquering fears and training the mind—guidance for living a good...

Three Errors about Indifference: Pascal on the Vacuum, Sociability, and Moral Freedom
Jones, Matthew L. Romance Quarterly 50 (2003): 99-120. This article explains the views of French philosopher Blaise Pascal against the philosophical and theological legitimization of a godly worldly life by the Jesuits. It also provides background on Jesuit philosopher Pierre LeMoyne's ordered world of...