Part One. Irony, Philosophy, and the Christian FaithSection 1. Pascal and the Ancient Quarrel over the Best Way of LifeSection 2. Irony RehabilitatedSection 3. The Figure of Socrates in Early Modern Philosophy: Montaigne, Descartes, and PascalSection 4. Divine Irony as an Alternative to Deism and Voluntarism
Part Two. Socratic Immanence: Montaigne’s Recovery of Philosophy as a Way of LifeSection 1. Socratic Self-Knowledgeand the Art of LivingSection 2. Against Speculative PhilosophySection 3. Montaigne’s ConfessionsSection 4. Death, Diversion, and the Supernatural
Part Three. The Virtue of Science and the Science of Virtue: Descartes’ Overcoming of SocratesSection 1. The Arts of Writing and the Science of LivingSection 2. Recovering and Overcoming SocratesSection 3. Descartes’ New Science of VirtueSection 4. Theology, Philosophical Irony, and the Arts of (Re-)Writing
Part Four. The Quest for Wisdom: Pascal and PhilosophySection 1. Socrates and the Quest for the Good LifeSection 2. Ironic Reversal: The Reduction of Cartesian Certitude to Socratic AmazementSection 3. Philosophy Deconstructed? Pascal Deconstructed?Section 4. The Restless Heart: Pascal’s Residual TeleologySection 5. Pascal’s Methods and the Quest for a Synoptic Vision
Part Five. Wagering on an Ironic GodSection 1. Rereading the WagerSection 2. Wagering as Self-EmptyingSection 3. The Problem of HopeSection 4. Neither Deism nor VoluntarismSection 5. Christ as Eucharistic Cipher