Infinity between mathematics and apologetics: Pascal's notion of infinite distance

摘要

In this paper I will examine what Blaise Pascal means by "infinite distance", both in his works on projective geometry and in the apologetics of the Pens,es's. I suggest that there is a difference of meaning in these two uses of "infinite distance", and that the Pens,es's use of it also bears relations to the mathematical concept of heterogeneity. I also consider the relation between the finite and the infinite and the acceptance of paradoxical relations by Pascal.