Blaise Pascal

latter, some people still assume that a supernatural being exists. Blaise Pascal was one of these individuals, and he also believes that regardless of whether it’s probable or not, it’s in your best interest to believe in the existence of God. This idea is called Pascal’s Wager, and it states that although the odds may be against it, the payoff for believing in God is much more fulfilling than not believing. I for one believe that Pascal is irrational…

ability can propel the potentially losing team to victory. This idea that meaningful beliefs overshadow those that are true is called pragmatism. Blaise Pascal, a French mathematician, physician, and religious philosopher (Biography.com Editors), took a pragmatic approach to the widely discussed topic of God’s existence. In his piece Faith Without Reasoning, Pascal gives us a scenario penned “Pascal’s Wager,” which insists that from a gambler’s standpoint, we should always side with accepting…

a god. Despite my beliefs, I am perfectly fine with people believing in a religion. Now, why is it rational to believe in God? It is quite simple, actually; it has much to do with happiness. In Elliott Sober’s chapter on the French philosopher Blaise Pascal and irrationality in his book Core Questions in Philosophy¸ Sober discusses Sigmund Freud’s thoughts on religion. Sober…

Blaise Pascal Pascal's Wager is an argument in philosophy presented by the seventeenth-century French philosopher. He thinks that people are betting on their lives that God exists or not. In Pascal’s view, he argues that a person should live as if God exists and believe in God. If in reality the God does not exist, they still can get the profits in their life. He also developed the theory of modern probability, and believed the reason cannot prove or not prove the existence of God.…

Pascal’s wager is one of Blaise Pascal’s, a 17th century French philosopher and mathematician, most famous works. It is included in the work titled Pensees (thoughts) and was published posthumously in 1670. According to Pascal one cannot come to the knowledge of God’s existence through reason alone, therefore one should live life as if God does exist, and if he does indeed exist then we have gained heaven. If god doesn’t exist, then we have lost nothing. Although let’s just say god does exist,…

The existence of God is always important in the aspect of philosophy. St. Thomas Aquinas explains what he believes is the five reasons god exists. The five reasons he believes why God exist is the Argument from Motion, Efficient Causes, Possibility and Necessity, Gradation of Being, and Design. The definition of God means that which nothing greater can be meant. St. Aquinas is a known philosopher for his discussions of the relationship between faith and the reasons, including the five reasons…

Introduction The Wager, by French scientist and mathematician, Blaise Pascal, presents an argument for believing in God based on an individual getting the best afterlife. He argues that we all must make a wager either for or against the existence of God. This wager which will result in either heaven, hell, or no consequence. Based on Pascal’s premises, I believe his argument is unsound. This paper will be divided into three sections in which I will discuss my evaluation of Pascal’s Wager. In…

Seemingly unrelated, Blaise Pascal’s Wager and Michael Shadlen and William Newsome’s Motion perception: Seeing and deciding are, in actuality, complementary and tie together the disciplines of philosophy and cognitive neuroscience in a thought-provoking way. In this paper, I discuss how the integration of Pascal’s Wager and Shadlen and Newsome’s research in the lateral parietal region (LIP) can reveal unique insights that are inaccessible when reviewing the texts independently. Specifically, I…

For example, I could choose to accept that a GCB exists and decide to become a theist, which, as far as I am aware, would grant me eternal bliss in heaven (Pascal). If I choose to accept that a GCB exists and I refuse to believe in it, then I am accepting damnation for all of eternity, which I am made to believe is very unpleasant and undesirable (Green). On the other hand, if a GCB does not exist and I choose…

Another proof of God is known as the Ontological argument which was thought up by the great St. Anselm. The word ontological means analyzing one’s nature of being and simply asking if it is real. The Ontological argument proofs include: (1) Assume that GCB (greatest consumable being) does not exist in reality, but in the mind alone; (2) Existence in reality is greater than existence in the mind alone; (3) It is possible the GCB exists in reality; (4) In such of a case, GCB would be greater than…