Analysis Of Blaise Pascal

1088 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Critical analysis of pascals wager

“Belief is a wise wager. Granted that faith cannot be proved, what harm will come to you if you gamble on its truth and it proves false? If you gain, you gain all; if you lose, you lose nothing. Wager, then, without hesitation, that He exists.”
~Blaise Pascal

Blaise Pascal was a French philosopher, mathematician, theorist and scientist during the seventh century who was one of the brightest minds of the era; creating inventions, writing books, and coming up with theories that would have philosophers still intrigued and studying today. One of the books that he wrote was called Pensées in which he wrote a collection of his thoughts in, among them he wrote his famous wager for believing in the Christian God versus not believing in the Christian …show more content…

If we considered only those two options that Pascal has given us that are entirely opposed, we can be referred to the argument as a dichotomy. However there are many more options besides the Christian God, you can believe in the same Abrahamic God but from one of the other branches of its religions, Judaism or Islam. You could choose to believe in any number of other religions besides the Christian faith, which makes Pascal’s wager a false dichotomy because, although Pascal gives us only two options to choose from there are many more options we can …show more content…

Believing in the Christian God is like a lottery and the chances of God actually existing is so little that choosing to not believe in the Christian God is not advantageous in comparison to the certain advantages that comes with not believing in the Christian God. By not believing in the Christian God you save time that you would have spent in the religious activities, money that you would have spent donating to your religious cause, and the chance to take part in the “poisonous pleasures” of life as Pascal himself put it. This would be like saying it is better to gain a little or nothing instead of losing little or nothing on the bet that the Christian God is real, in that sense it would be more practical not to believe in the Christian God.
Perhaps the most critical problem with Pascal’s argument for believing in the Christian God is that he suggest that we can just simply choose to believe in the Christian God by choice, when in actually believing in something is not as easy as saying yes or no. We develop our beliefs on the basis of experience or evidence that allows us to believe that something is true. Pascal suggest that a rational person can simply choose to believe in the Christ, because they feel that that choice is the more rational

Show More
Related

  • Without Evidence Or Argument Clark Analysis

    922 Words  | 2 Pages

    Then he goes on to conclude by saying that, “The lessons learned from observing people and their beliefs support the position that I have defended: rational people may rationally believe in God without evidence or argument” (Feinberg 142). In schools today, students grow up listening to lectures that are subjective and then later are tested on what the teacher thinks and believes. Whether or not the taught perspective is factual or not, it teaches students from a young age to just take what the teachers, adults, and any authority says as truth, as a way to respecting authority. In the same way that it is reasonable to believe respectable authority, it is rational to have belief in God without specific evidence because we are created with the inclination that a higher being exists and God has shown Himself to be true to every generation. Furthermore, God has placed in every human the inkling to believe what is right or wrong, so when it comes to deciding whether to act a certain way, we can rely on our gut feeling if it is a good action or not. It is a very common and suggested thing to trust one's gut feeling when making a decision, even though it does not require any evidence to see if it is actually the right decision to

    Read More

  • A Prayer For Owen Meany

    1084 Words  | 3 Pages

    The other answer to the question is that faith is doubt. This basis relies on the fact that since there is so little proof, one must doubt therefore one must have faith.

    Read More

  • Pascal Wager Term Paper Outline

    1892 Words  | 4 Pages

    Thesis: Pascal’s Wager calls for the need for people to choose to believe in something, to allow them the chance of gaining more than ever, and with that your chances for gain will be higher with the belief of a god, but the highest with the belief in the God of the Bible.

    Read More

  • Pascal's Wager Strengths And Weaknesses

    590 Words  | 2 Pages

    Pascal’s Wager was a major strength of his theory on God and Religion. The argument made in Pascal’s Wager is an example of apologetic philosophy. It was written and published in Pensées by the 17th century French philosopher Blaise Pascal. Pascal’s Wager claims that all humans must bet their lives on whether God exists. He argues that rational people should seek to believe in God. If God does not exist the loss is minimal, but if God does exist there is an infinite gain, eternity in Heaven. It was a ground-breaking theory because it utilized probability theory and formal decision theory. Pascal’s Wager is applicable both to atheists and theists. While other philosophies may

    Read More

  • Pascal’s Wager

    986 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...nown reason Pascal seemed to think it was not necessary to acknowledge that there are more belief systems then Agnosticism, atheism, and Christianity. It is this lack of reasoning of why we should make a wager on the existence of the Christian god over the gods of Hinduism or the god of Islam that makes Pascal’s argument so weak. The only conclusion I think one could reach from Pascal’s argument is that it is more beneficial for one to believe in at least a higher power than it is to be an agnostic or atheist. Even if one did acknowledge the existence of some sort of higher being or beings it would still not benefit an individual because the chance of selecting the true belief system out of an infinite number of possible belief systems makes it very unlikely for someone to ever make the right choice. In conclusion I feel that Pascal’s Wager is a very weak argument.

    Read More

  • An Analysis Of William James's 'The Will To Believe'

    1103 Words  | 3 Pages

    that it "it is wrong always, everywhere, and for anyone, to believe anything upon insufficient

    Read More

  • Paper 4 Topic 2

    814 Words  | 2 Pages

    Blaise Pascal claims that having faith in God is an easy and obvious choice. Pascal claims that the reasoning to believe God is obvious, and claims that just because you can’t see something doesn’t mean it isn’t there. He relates this to the number infinity, and although you can’t comprehend it or see it, we know that it exists. “We know that there is an infinite, and are largely ignorant of its nature. As we know it to be false that numbers are finite, it is therefore true that there is an infinity in number. But we do not know what it is. It is false that it is even, it is false that it is odd; for the addition of a unit can make no change in its nature. Yet it is a number, and every number is odd or even (this is c...

    Read More

  • David Hume on the Existence of Miracles

    1462 Words  | 3 Pages

    ... and faith are not based solely on empirical evidence and absolute proof. It is the will to believe, the desire to see miracles that allows the faithful, to believe in the existence of miracles, not on any kind of sufficient evidence but on the belief that miracles can happen. Rather than Hume’s premise that a wise man proportions his belief in response to the eviddence, maybe a wise man would be better off, tempering his need for empirical evidence against his faith and his will to belief.

    Read More

  • Pascal's Wager Argument Analysis

    112 Words  | 1 Pages

    The pure fact alone that Pascal’s Wager appeals to our common human traits of logic and self-interest allows it to be a persuasive argument. Through this, the Wager can appeal to a much larger audience because it entices one’s self-interests over their religious state. While one can raise the argument that believing in God may not be the only way to make it to the afterlife, one could refute that what was loss that would make attending church during your lifetime such a regrettable experience. All in all, Pascal’s Wager provides a pretty convincing argument in why one should believe in God and does it in a way both simple and concise.

    Read More

  • Pascal's Wager Argument

    799 Words  | 2 Pages

    Of these scholarly articles, Pascal’s Wager: A Critique, by Simon Blackburn, may hold the most weight. Blackburn argues against two critical points of Pascal’s theory: the concepts of metaphysical ignorance and religious pluralism. In Blackburn’s objection from metaphysical ignorance, he argues that a logical person cannot assume that there is an infinite gain or loss for believing or not believing in God, respectively. Pascal assumes a Christian viewpoint of heaven and hell. No human is in the position to declare his or her own destiny after death based on whether or not they believe. For example, God could have motives to punish those who believe in him by subjecting them to eternity in hell and nobody would know until after death. However, a reasonable person can disregard this theory because the prospect of God rewarding those who believe is much more likely than God rewarding those who do not. Also, believing that God would punish someone for believing is still a belief in God, and therefore, if that person truly believes that that is what God wants, then he should be rewarded if he is true. Nevertheless, he still justifiably believes in

    Read More

  • Sorean Kierkegaard and Paul Tillich's Views on the Role of Faith

    844 Words  | 2 Pages

    The role of faith has been debated among many theologians, scientists, and philosophers. It has been greatly discussed and depicted throughout history as whether faith is logical when it comes to religion or whether faith is completely absurd. In this essay, I will focus on the role of faith through the lenses of Christian philosophers Sorean Kierkegaard and Paul Tillich. Faith plays an important role in Kierkegaard and Tillich theology; I will critically examine their depiction of faith and compare and contrast their passages. Kiergarrd view of faith is that it is completely absurd where as Ti

    Read More

  • Descartesian Epistemology Essay

    1226 Words  | 3 Pages

    He argues that even the evil genius cannot deceive him or his existence. “but doubtless I did exist if I persuaded my self or something. But there is some deceiver who is supremely powerful and supremely sly and who is always de deliberately deceiving me. Then too there is no doubt that I exist if he is deceiving me. And let him do his best at deception, he will never bring it about that I am nothing so long as I shall think that I am something. Thus I am, I exist is necessarily true every time I utter it or conceive it in my mind” (Descartes, 1641). This passage is not verbatim but is mentioned in “Cogito ergo.” There are two stages to doubt. The first is all the beliefs we have received from sensory data is doubted, and the second our intellectual beliefs are doubted. Both come with a reason. Our sensory has been known to deceive us through systematic deception. Our intellectual believes that even our optimal view can deceive us. If I was looking at a rectangle table and the closer I got to it began to appear to be square, my optimal view has fooled

    Read More

  • Who Invented the Pascal Triangle?

    1912 Words  | 4 Pages

    In this report, we aim to dig deeper into Pascal, to learn more about his short yet remarkable life and what he has contributed to mankind. Covering a detailed introduction to Blaise Pascal’s family, education, religious beliefs, and a few briefer investigations into the Pascal Triangle and the Pascaline, this report guarantees to grant you some special knowledge about the father of the triangle.

    Read More

  • Analysis of Blaise Pascal´s Book: Pensees

    1088 Words  | 3 Pages

    When looking at Pascal’s arguments that emerge in Pensees; the history, ideas, and people that influenced Pascal must be examined. Many of Pascal’s arguments involve the unity of both religion and science. This can be very controversial at a time where an absolute monarch challenges and tries to destroy other faith practices. Along with introducing scientific ideas others may misinterpret as trying to disprove God’s existence. Pascal was heavily influenced by the Christian church and was a firm believer in God. In fact, Pascal’s discoveries and experiments only solidify his faith even more. Pensees is Pascal’s thoughts on God and some other subjects that tie philosophy and the nature of man.

    Read More

  • My Catholic Religious Belief System

    1154 Words  | 3 Pages

    There are benefits and disadvantages of believing in the Catholic faith. A benefit of believing in the Catholic faith is that God will forgive you for your sins as long as you repent and are truly sorry for acts that you have committed. Catholics believe in a heaven and hell, which is an advantage and a disadvantage. As an advantage when a person dies, according to the Catholic religion, they will go to heaven as long as they followed a good Christian life.

    Read More

More about Analysis Of Blaise Pascal

Open Document