Pascal's Theorem, also known as the Hexagrammum Mysticum Theorem, is found first here in his 1639 Essay on Conic Sections. In projective geometry, his discovery at just sixteen that six points of a hexagon inscribed in a conic section yield a straight line (now known as Pascal's theorem) represented a breakthrough that even the ancient Greeks hadn't achieved. The vacuum experiments, conducted meticulously at varying altitudes including the summit of Puy-de-Dôme, definitively proved atmospheric pressure exists by showing mercury column heights changed predictably with elevation - directly contradicting the prevailing Aristotelian belief that "nature abhors a vacuum." His methodological reflection in On the Geometric Mind crystallizes the dialectic between abstract reasoning and empirical observation that characterized his approach - eschewing both pure rationalism and strict empiricism for a synthesis that leveraged mathematical precision to understand physical phenomena, a methodology that shaped subsequent developments in classical mechanics.

The Letter on the Possibility of Fulfilling God's Commandments (1656) is a major theological work by Blaise Pascal, written during the controversy between the Jansenists and the Jesuits. In this letter, Pascal defends the Jansenist view of grace and human free will, and addresses the question of whether human beings can fulfill God's commandments without divine grace. Pascal argues that while God's commandments are just and righteous, human nature after the Fall is too corrupted by sin to fulfill them without the intervention of God's grace. This letter criticizes the Jesuit belief in the human ability to fulfill the divine law through personal effort, without the need for grace. Pascal insists that only through God's grace can man achieve true obedience to His laws. This work is part of Pascal's broader defense of Jansenist theology, which emphasizes the role of grace in salvation and human dependence on divine assistance for moral and spiritual progress.

His Dissertation on the True Meaning delves into patristic interpretation, marking his growing interest in Jansenist theology and its emphasis on divine grace. This theological foundation deepened through his exploration of divine healing in Questions on Miracles, where he develops a framework for evaluating miraculous claims that balances belief with Cartesianism. His dialogue with M. de Saci represents a masterful synthesis of classical and Christian thought, where Pascal analyzes how Epictetus's Stoic emphasis on human dignity and Montaigne's skeptical recognition of human weakness both capture partial truths about the human condition. The dialogue demonstrates how these seemingly contradictory philosophical positions actually illuminate the Christian doctrine of the Fall - humanity's simultaneous greatness and misery - which Pascal would later develop more fully in his Pensées.

Letters to a Provincial (Les Provinciales) is a series of 18 letters written by Blaise Pascal between 1656 and 1657, addressing the controversy between the Jansenists and the Jesuits. Originally published anonymously, the letters were intended to defend the Jansenist theologian Antoine Arnauld, who had been condemned by the Sorbonne for his views on grace and predestination. In these letters, Pascal criticized Jesuit moral theology, especially its use of "casuistry," which he saw as a way of justifying moral laxity through complex reasoning. Known for their wit, clarity, and satirical tone, the Provincial Letters made complex theological debates accessible to the general public.They played a crucial role in swaying public opinion in favor of the Jansenists, while exposing the inconsistencies and weaknesses in Jesuit arguments.Pascal's blend of sharp criticism and eloquent writing made the Letters not only a key work in theological disputes, but also a landmark in French literature.

The Art of Persuasion rejects flat Cartesianism in favor of what he terms "the geometric spirit" - a method that acknowledges how human understanding depends on both reason and emotion, anticipating modern cognitive science's dual-process theories of mind, and forshadowing the field of Psychology. Within this framework, Pascal develops his concept of "finesse" - an intuitive grasp of complex truths that complements mathematical demonstration. His Three Discourses on the Condition of the Great deconstructs social privilege by distinguishing between inherent worth and arbitrary status, arguing that noble birth creates obligations rather than rights: "You would never have been born into rank were it not to serve others."

His earlier Discourse on the Passions of Love with Descartes, written during his “worldly” period, examines how romantic attraction emerges from an interplay of reason and emotion, demonstrating his psychological acuity: "The first effect of love is to inspire great respect; we feel veneration for what we love."

Pascal's Pensées stands as one of philosophical anthropology’s most penetrating analyses of the human condition, written as a planned defense of Classical Christianity against the budding Cartesianism merging with Enlightenment-Reformation Materialism. Publish Posthumorously, his epistemology rejects both pure rationalism and a simple fideism by articulating how knowledge emerges from an interplay between reason and what he terms "the heart," anticipating phenomenological approaches to embodied cognition. Pascal's famous wager, beyond its frequent mischaracterization as mere probabilistic calculus, constitutes a sophisticated analysis of decision-making under epistemic uncertainty that anticipates both existentialist approaches to commitment and contemporary decision theory. The work's theological argument proceeds not through traditional metaphysical proofs but via careful phenomenological analysis of Existential dread, foreshadowing Kierkegaard, arguing that Christianity's explanation of humanity as "neither angel nor beast, but angel and beast", a proto-Psychology that was a century ahead of it’s time.

In his seminal dissertation "On the Fourfold Root of the Principle of Sufficient Reason" (1813), Schopenhauer endeavors to explicate the fundamental architectonic of human cognition through a systematic decomposition of the principle of sufficient reason into four distinct manifestations: the principium rationis fiendi governing material causation, the principium rationis cognoscendi underlying logical inference, the principium rationis essendi pertaining to mathematical and geometric necessity, and the principium rationis agendi explicating motivational causality.

In his magnum opus "The World as Will and Representation" (Volume I, 1818), Schopenhauer articulates a revolutionary metaphysical system that identifies the fundamental reality underlying all phenomenal experience as an unconscious, purposeless force he terms "Will" - a concept that radically departs from the rational, concept-driven metaphysics of his German Idealist predecessors. Through a sophisticated development of Kantian transcendental idealism, Schopenhauer demonstrates how the world of representation (governed by space, time, and causality) exists only as the objectification of this primordial Will, which manifests itself in an ascending hierarchy of natural forms, from inorganic forces through organic life to human consciousness. In what stands as one of philosophy's most rigorous attempts to reconcile Western metaphysics with Eastern thought (particularly Buddhism and the Upanishads), Schopenhauer argues that since all individuation belongs merely to the realm of representation while Will remains an undifferentiated unity, the enlightened sage can achieve liberation from suffering through aesthetic contemplation and ethical resignation

Schopenhauer provides a series of sophisticated supplementary essays that both elaborate and substantially deepen the systematic metaphysical framework established in his first volume, with particular attention to defending his system against misinterpretations. Through extensive commentary on topics ranging from the nature of cognition to the metaphysics of sexual love, Schopenhauer argues how his fundamental insight regarding the world's dual aspect as Will and Representation illuminates diverse phenomena, while simultaneously developing his theory of Ideas as the intermediate objectifications of Will that bridge the metaphysical gap between the unified, unconscious Will-in-itself and the multiplicity of individual phenomena in the world of representation. Volume II offers a more nuanced exploration of the possibility of liberation from suffering through aesthetic contemplation, ascetic resignation, and compassionate ethics, drawing extensively on Eastern philosophical traditions to argue that the denial of Will-to-life represents not merely a negative renunciation but rather the highest affirmation of what Schopenhauer terms "better consciousness"

In the remarkable essay "On Spirit Seeing and Everything Connected Therewith" (published in "Parerga and Paralipomena," 1851), Schopenhauer applies his metaphysical system to the phenomena of ghostly apparitions, animal magnetism, and magical practices, arguing that these apparently supernatural occurrences can be explained through his theory of Will as the underlying reality that transcends the principium individuationis of space and time. Through a sophisticated philosophical analysis that draws upon both empirical accounts and theoretical considerations, Schopenhauer suggests that purported paranormal phenomena represent instances where the typically hidden operation of Will becomes momentarily manifest within the world of representation - thereby developing a naturalistic theory of the supernatural that both anticipates aspects of depth psychology and demonstrates the explanatory power of his metaphysical system when applied to empirical phenomena that seem to defy conventional materialistic explanation.

Schopenhauer presents a series of essays and fragments that apply his metaphysical system to diverse topics ranging from spiritualism and ghostly apparitions to literary criticism and the nature of university philosophy, demonstrating both the explanatory power and cultural implications of his theory of Will and representation. He develops what might be termed a "transcendental naturalism" that explains apparently supernatural phenomena as manifestations of Will's operation beyond the principium individuationis while simultaneously offering devastating critiques of academic philosophy's capitulation to state and religious interests.

Schopenhauer develops here what might be termed a "philosophy of culture" that applies his metaphysical insights to questions of everyday life while simultaneously offering penetrating psychological observations that would profoundly influence both Nietzsche's aphoristic style and Freud's theory of the unconscious. Through these diverse fragments, which include his famous essays "On Women" and "On Noise," Schopenhauer demonstrates how his philosophical system can illuminate aspects of human experience typically neglected by academic philosophy, creating a bridge between metaphysical speculation and practical wisdom that would establish him as one of the first modern philosophical essayists and a master of cultural criticism.

This very short story is Kafka's earliest known prose work, which he tells in a letter to his friend Oskar Pollack under the title "The Shamefaced Tall One and the Dishonest Man in His Heart" (original German "schamhaften Langen und vom Unredlichen in seinem Herzen"). The history of this work remains largely enigmatic within Kafka scholarship, as the manuscript was discovered among his early papers at the Literary Archive in Prague. The work, never published during Kafka's lifetime, represents one of his earliest known literary attempts, composed during his university years while studying law at Charles-Ferdinand University.

The Friedland and Reichenberg entries showcase Kafka's attention to architectural detail and human behavior. He constructs elaborate descriptions of buildings and spaces, particularly notable in his account of the Friedland castle, where he meticulously captures the interplay of dark ivy, gray-black walls, and white snow.

The Lugano-Paris-Erlenbach journey entries reveal a more socially engaged Kafka, though still maintaining his characteristic distance from the subjects he describes. His documentation of the Parisian urban landscape is particularly noteworthy, presenting the city through a series of carefully constructed observations that emphasize both the physical and psychological dimensions of urban space.

The Weimar and Jungborn sections present perhaps the most personally revealing portions of the journals, documenting Kafka's interactions with various individuals, including his complex relationship with a young woman named Grete.

"The Giant Mole" ("Der Riesenmaulwurf" or "Der Dorfschullehrer" in German) is an unfinished short story by Franz Kafka, likely written between 1914 and 1915. It was published posthumously in 1931. The story reflects Kafka's fascination with bureaucracy, misunderstanding, and the struggle for recognition, along with his characteristic blend of the surreal and the mundane.

The story’s narrator is a schoolmaster who becomes fascinated by reports of a mysterious and enormous mole in a rural area. He dedicates himself to investigating the phenomenon and writing an academic report about it. However, his work is met with skepticism and ridicule, particularly from a newspaper editor whom he hopes will publicize his findings. The editor dismisses the story as unworthy of serious consideration, leaving the schoolmaster increasingly alienated and consumed by his quest for acknowledgment in a world governed by dismissive authority and rigid conventions; the extraordinary has no place in a Post-Cartesian Pessimism

Published posthumously in 1931 through Max Brod's efforts, “Reflections on Sin, Suffering, Hope, and the True Way” (Betrachtungen über Sünde, Leid, Hoffnung und den wahren Weg) was extracted from Kafka's notebooks written between 1917-1919, primarily during his stay at his sister's house in Zürau. This period marked a crucial turning point in Kafka's life - he had recently been diagnosed with tuberculosis, broken his engagement with Felice Bauer, and taken leave from his insurance office job.

Unlike his narrative works, these fragments speak directly to metaphysical concerns, though they maintain his characteristic mixture of paradox and precision. The aphorisms reflect Kafka's deep engagement with Jewish theological traditions, particularly Hasidic teachings, while also drawing from his readings of Kierkegaard, Pascal, and Schopenhauer. Many entries circle around the notion of original sin, which Kafka reimagines not as a historical event but as an ever-present condition of consciousness itself. "Original sin is not in our actions but in our existence.”

Kafka’s The Hunter Gracchus (Der Jäger Gracchus), written in 1917 and published posthumously in 1931, is one of his most enigmatic and allegorical works. Set in the surreal, timeless liminality that characterizes much of Kafka’s fiction, the narrative follows the arrival of the titular character, a dead hunter perpetually caught between life and death, in the harbor town of Riva.

The narrative centers on Gracchus, a Black Forest hunter who died falling from a cliff while pursuing chamois, but whose death-ship lost its way and now drifts eternally between the worlds of the living and the dead. When he arrives in the port of Riva, he explains his condition to the town's mayor: "My death boat went wrong - a wrong turn of the helm, a moment's absence of mind by the pilot, a distraction from my wonderful homeland, I don't know what it was." This liminal state - neither fully alive nor properly dead - captures the particular horror of conscious existence trapped in endless transition, unable to reach either shore. This is a clear reflection of Schopenhauer's belief in the tragi-comic nature of the human condition.

Written during Kafka's final years at a sanatorium in Kierling, this absurdist short story a culmination of his philosophical explorations through animal narratives (one of several such works he wrote). This text, discovered among Kafka's papers after his death and published by Max Brod in 1931, emerges from the same creative period that produced "A Hunger Artist" and "The Burrow," sharing their preoccupation with isolation, investigation, and the limits of knowledge.

In the narrative tradition of Voltaire in works such as "Micromégas" (1752), Kafka's story is narrated by a dog who reflects on his life and engages in an obsessive investigation of the mysterious forces governing his world, particularly focusing on the nature of sustenance and survival. The dog questions why food appears as if by magic and struggles to comprehend the rituals and behaviors of other dogs. His inquiries, however, are fraught with frustration, as he is unable to find satisfactory answers, leading to an ongoing sense of existential confusion- a common Kafkaesque theme.