The wager by blaise pascal blaise pascal, thoemmes about the author early in life blaise pascal 16231662 pursued interests in physics and mathematics. Contributions to probability theory and projective geometry. The name is somewhat misleading, for in a single section of his pensees, pascal apparently presents at least three such arguments, each of which might be called a wager it is only the final of these that is traditionally referred to as pascal. Blaise pascalthoughts wikisource, the free online library. Pascal is perhaps best known in the world of religious thought for his formation of the socalled wager 233. Pascals wager, practical argument for belief in god formulated by blaise pascal. In his pensees 165758, pascal posed the following argument to show that belief in the christian religion is rational. A critical discussion of blaise pascal s the wager in the gambling world bets are made based on odds, the probability or likelihood that something would happen. Reconstruct pascal s wager as carefully as possible. Pascals pensees part iii the necessity of the wager the wager. But despite its initial appeal, the wager seems to fail on logical grounds. Nicholas boyle seeks to answer this question in a way that will appeal both to the specialist and. It is in this work that we find what is known as pascals wager. At the time pascal s father focused the childrens education on literature, philosophy.
Blaise pascal 16231662 is recognized as a man who set forth a new kind of. Pascals wager is an argument in philosophy presented by the seventeenthcentury french philosopher, theologian, mathematician and physicist, blaise pascal 16231662. This is a plausible principle, and one which is employed in some versions of pascal s wager. Pascals wager about god internet encyclopedia of philosophy.
The difference between the mathematical and the intuitive mind. It states that all people bet with their lives that god exists. Therefore, wagering for god has infinite expected utility. An epistemic interpretation of the ultimate pragmatic argument mi c h a e l ve l c h i k p iquant, convincing, powerful, and mildly heretical pascal s wager is a philosophers dream. Blaise pascal was a 17th century french philosopher, theologian, and. Pdf on jan 12, 1991, graham oppy published on rescher on pascals wager find, read and cite all the research you need on. On that day, he penned following words and sewed them on the inside of his coat and carried it with him for the rest of his life. Pascals statement of his wager argument is couched. It is in that perspective that pascal formulated the wager as effort to bring the unbeliever to the belief in god. Blaise pascal s wager argues that since there is much to gain and relatively little to lose, the wise decision is to seek a relationship with god and live a christian life. It reasons thereupon,and calls it nature, necessity, and can believe nothing else.
A critical discussion of blaise pascal s the wager essay example. In this outline i try to provide students with the necessary background to make sense of the. Blaise pascal 16231662 was a french scientist and mathematician who experienced a religious conversion during the night of november 23rd, 1654 at the. After his mother died, pascal s father, also a respected mathematician, was left to raise blaise and his two sisters. If god does not actually exist, any person will have only a little loss in how they live their. If god does not exist he believes there is 0 loss because any finite number compared to infinite is 0. Pascal says that a rational person actually should live as though god exists. First, he establishes that, since 4blaise pascal, pensees new york. It posits that human beings bet with their lives that god either exists or does not.
Mar 14, 20 the wager at the heart of the philosophy of pascal. As rota shows, pascal s wager can be as powerful an evangelistic tool today as it was in the seventeenth century. Since there is an equal risk of gain and of loss, if you had only to gain two lives, instead of one, you might still wager. In the court of law, cases are decided upon by the weight of evidence presented by the respective parties. The book was also very influential in the development of apologetics. His theory of conic sections and probability theory are well known. Christian classics ethereal library, grand rapids, mi.
Pascal s theorem blaise pascal the wager about gods. In the seventeenth century the mathematician blaise pascal formulated his infamous pragmatic argument for belief in god in pensees. Blaise pascal was a 17th century french philosopher, theologian, and mathematician. Goldmann, the famous exegesis of the thought of blaise pascals wager said it is the center of gravity of his philosophy, and acknowledges that the famous argument should be of interest to the libertines. Before proposing the full thought on the wager, pascal examines three important statements on the existence of god, namely the theism, the atheism and the agnosticism. Pascal s famous wager were it not for november 23, 1654, blaise pascal would never have began the project that eventually became the pensees.
Pascals wager is an argument in philosophy presented by the seventeenthcentury french philosopher, theologian, mathematician and physicist, blaise pascal. One of pascal s most famous works was the pensees thoughts, which was published posthumously in 1670. Lesson 6 the wager by blaise pascal page 100102 pascal represents a classic representation of fideism because he believes that religious belief is based on faith not reason. A critical discussion of blaise pascals the wager essay. According to pascal, how much can be known about god. The wager the question of whether or not god exists has over the years elicited a heated debate among different philosophers with each one of them giving their views of the subject. And, while the port royal logic 1662 contained a version of pascal s wager that was widely known, tillotsons wager is, as we will see, formally different from the port royal logic version. Dec 16, 2014 at this point pascal challenges us to accept his wager. Jan 15, 2021 wager, then, without hesitation that he is. If the christian god does not exist, the agnostic loses little by believing in him and gains correspondingly little by not believing. While many philosophers argue against the existence of god, some hold on to the view that god does indeed exist and gives people all the reasons to.
Explain whether you consider pascal s wager a proof of gods existence or. Pascal s wager is an argument in philosophy presented by the seventeenth century philosopher mathematician and physicist blaise pascal 16231662 ce. Pascal s wager refers to the argument put forward by the french mathematician and philosopher blaise pascal june 19, 1623august 19, 1662. He believes that if you believe in god and he exists that you an infinite gain. Taruhan pascal adalah gagasan yang dikeluarkan oleh blaise pascal bahwa jika. Michael rota explores the dynamics of doubt, evidence and decisionmaking in order to consider what is necessary for people to embrace the christian faithand the difference it makes in peoples lives. Robert coleman the reality which it describes changed the life of. From montaigne we read two essays, of pedantry and of the education of children, and from descartes, we read the meditations on first philosophy. Blaise pascal the wager about gods existence pensees. Pascals wager is an argument in philosophy presented by the seventeenth century french philosopher, theologian, mathematician and physicist, blaise pascal. So far we have discussed a number of arguments for or against the. Pascals wager is named after 17thcentury french philosopher and mathematician blaise pascal. Jones blaise pascal s penses is a sustained attempt to convert, to lead its reader to form the belief in the articles of faith.
This argument, one of the most famous from pascal s thoughts, hides a real. Pascals wager about god blaise pascal 16231662 offers a pragmatic reason for believing in god. The family had always been devout, and the younger pascal, though absorbed in his scientific work, never seems to have been afflicted with infidelity. Mathematician, inventor, philosopher background blaise pascal was born june 19, 1623 into a cultured family in france. In a compact statement, pascal quickly moves through four major points.
Pascal s wager and moral tutiorism blaise pascal 1623. Pascals wager is the name given to an argument due to blaise pascal for believing, or for at least taking steps to believe, in god. Pascal claims that even though philosophical proof for god is not possible, one should believe in god since, if god exists, one would be far better off believing in him since this is a necessary condition for heaven than disbelieving in him which means the loss of heaven. Taruhan pascal wikipedia bahasa indonesia, ensiklopedia bebas. And then to make people seek him among the philosophers, sceptics, and dogmatists, who disquiet him who inquires of them. Pascal s wager is thus designed to appeal to people of all religious backgrounds, or none at all. Baird, whitworth university taking pascal s wager is a novel combination of pascalian wagering with natural theology and christian evidences. In his book, les pensees, pascal reveals an interesting twist to the rationality of believing in god. If you erroneously believe in god, you lose nothing assuming that death is the absolute end, whereas if you correctly believe in god, you gain everything eternal. Nicholas boyle seeks to answer this question in a way that will appeal both to the specialist.
Since pascal does not think a sound argument can be given for gods existence, he proposes a persuasive consideration. Stanford encyclopedia of philosophy pascal s wager first published sat may 2, 1998. Unlike more traditional arguments for the existence of god, pascals wager is a pragmatic argument, concluding not that god exists but that one should wager for god. Pascals wager is an argument in support of religious belief and religious practice taking its name from the seventeenth century polymath blaise pascal. The project gutenberg ebook of pascals pensees, by blaise. The students in my introduction to philosophy course just took their second exam, which covers material from montaigne, pascal, and descartes.
The implications of blaise pascal s wager and his relevance for todays faith introduction on the 50th anniversary of the opening of the second ecumenical vatican council, the holy father emeritus, benedict xvi, proclaimed for the whole catholic church the year. Lesson 6 the wager by blaise pascal page 100102 pascal represents a classic representation of fideism because he believes that religious. In the court of law, cases are decided upon by the weight of evidence presented by the respective. Aug 26, 2015 douglas groothuis summarizes the wager as follows. Download file pdf blaise pascal the mind on fire blaise pascal the mind on fire.
Pascal french philosopher, scientist, mathematician and probability theorist 16231662 argues that if we dont know whether god exists then we should play it safe rather than risk being sorry. Blaise pascal was not a gambler, but he posited one of the most famous wagers of all time. Pascals wager is usually treated out of context, in a way that distorts the argument and the way that it functions in the larger context of the pensees. What do the bible and other great books of literature have in common, and what makes the bible different. Rather than asserting that the probability of gods existence p is high, pascal readily admitted that some deem gods existence to be unlikely perhaps extremely unlikely. The word conversion, however, is too forcible to be applied at this point to blaise pascal himself. Religious conversion, serf deception, and pascals wager ward e.
Simply put, the wager says we should bet on christianity because the rewards are infinite if its true, while the losses will be insignificant if its false. The wager by blaise pascal certainly true of every finite number. In this wireless philosophy video, susanna rinard harvard university explains pascals wager, blaise pascal s famous argument for belief in god. Course notes blaise pascal, the wager the electric agora. Rigorous but readable, this unusual book challenges the mind while.
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