The paper intends to examine the antecedents of the Pascalian concept of human nature, from the Aristotelian matrix of the idea of nature, going through the Christian absorption of this concept in Augustine and Thomas, to the elaboration of the theological concept of pure nature in Late Scholastics and its critic by Jansenius. Pascal deepens this criticism, showing that the completeness and sufficiency presupposed in the idea of pure nature are incompatible with the present human condition, though human unhappiness points to the fact that human nature remains relevant as an non-achievable demand.
Pascal; Human Nature; Pure Nature; Incompleteness