I've been around on the Yahoo Answers and I've seen it mentioned. I just want to know what it is. I don't want any crazy Christians or Atheists telling me something other than the answer.
Thanks.
2007-03-02 12:51:56 · 5 answers · asked by Nameless 4 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Pascal's Wager is the French philosopher Blaise Pascal's application of decision theory to the belief in God. It is also occasionally known as Pascal's Gambit. It appears in the Pensées, a posthumous collection of Pascal's notes for an unfinished treatise on Christian apologetics. Pascal argued that it is a better "bet" to believe that God exists, because the expected value of believing that God exists is always greater than the expected value resulting from non-belief. Indeed, he claimed that the expected value is infinite. Pascal believed that it was inexcusable not to investigate this question: "Before entering into the proofs of the Christian religion, I find it necessary to point out the sinfulness of those men who live in indifference to the search for truth in a matter which is so important to them, and which touches them so nearly."[1] Pascal's Wager is an argument for belief in God that he made and used because he hoped it would convert those to Christianity, who were ignorant, uninterested, or unconvinced by the arguments for the existence of God.
Variations of this argument may be found in other religious philosophies, such as Islam, Hinduism, and even Buddhism (see below). Pascal's Wager is also similar in structure to the precautionary principle.
2007-03-02 12:55:20 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
Pascal's Wager has been pretty well described above I'll just add that If you believe in God only as a wager, that is certainly not a deep, mature, or adequate faith. But it is something, it is a start, perhaps enough to turn the atheist agnostic.
The Wager appeals not to high ideals, or the positives of faith, but rather to the instinct for self-preservation. It is on that low natural level, that it has tremendous force.
2007-03-03 01:35:43 · answer #2 · answered by G's Random Thoughts 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Pascal's wager claims it's better to believe in God Just in case.
He claims that if you believe in vain you've lost nothing. But if you didn't believe and God exist you are in big trouble.
This claim is faulty in many instances of course.
For one thing it assumes that only one god is an alternative.
And it assumes that this god prefer hypocritical belief before honest disbelief.
That's just a couple of debunkings of this inate argument.
2007-03-02 21:01:33 · answer #3 · answered by Sverige öö 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
dam i just learned this few weeks ago. His wager was that everyone is forced to choose between if god exists or if he doesnt'. He says the smart wager to make is that he does exist, because that way you don't lose anything, but if you dont believe and he exists your going to hell.
2007-03-02 20:55:56 · answer #4 · answered by shef 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It's basically this: "It is better to believe in God, because if there is no God, nothing will happen if I don't believe, but if there is, at least I can avoid hell if I do believe."
I do believe in God, but not because of that argument, which is fairly weak. I believe because of other, more sophistcated things.
2007-03-02 20:57:09 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋