Pascal's Wager
from the place-your-bets dept.
There's an intellectual exercise called Pascal's Wager. In a nut-shell, it's an illustration to promote the belief in God. To do this, Blase Pascal postulated a bet, where all one had to do was decide if God existed or not. The following truth table would then be used:
| A. Believe God Exists (And Indeed God Does Exist) | B. Believe God Doesn't Exist (Yet God Does Exist) | C. Believe Doesn't God Exists (And God Indeed Doesn't Exist) | D. Believe God Exists (Yet God Doesn't Exist) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Win | Lose | Win | Win |
Sometimes truth tables are harder to read than just writing out a paragraph. But the gist of the argument is that the odds are in your favor if you believe God exists. This table suggests that there is a 3 out of 4 chance of winning.
- A: Belief + Existance = Win
- B: Non-Belief + Existance = Lose
- C: Non-Belief + Non-Existance = Win
- D: Belief + Non-Existanc = Win
The reason B is the only lose situation is because all other situations either result in Heaven or Nothing. B is the only situation that results in Hell.
Ok, that having been said, I have a few problems with Pascal's Wager. I've encountered this argument a number of times, and it's always bugged me. I found an article that hits the nail on the head. Here's part of the article from The Skeptical Christian:
Pascal’s Wager is a very famous and popular argument for the truth of Christianity. A wide variety of objections have been advanced against the argument. Although most of these objections have at least a potential counter, I believe there is one that sticks- it is morally and intellectually wrong-headed to try to compel belief by threats or force. However, the Wager should be used as an argument to investigate religion closely. Perhaps, once some nonbelievers are convinced of the foolishness of their lackadaisical attitude, they will discover that Christianity is in fact true.
If you'd like to know more about how Pascal's Wager actually falls apart, read the following article:
Posted: Thursday - May 10, 2007 at 10:44 AM |
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