Pascal

Pascal's wager argument uses religious belief as a possible solution to an individual's personal benefits. Pascal argues more specifically how the advantage of believing in God greatly outweighs the effectiveness of not believing in God. Therefore, giving each individual good reasoning to believe in God. There are two explanations of reasoning for belief, or reasoning in order to execute some type of action. The first kind is prudential reason, this reasoning is used to persuade that you are…

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 God’s…

Pascal explains that a person should choose to believe in God because they may receive infinite benefits. He does not assume that god exists, but rather asserts that a person should place a bet on his existence. If a person believes in God, and God does exist, they may be infinitely rewarded in the afterlife. But, Pascal also acknowledges that there are drawbacks to believing in god’s existence. Through religious…

best interest to believe that God does in fact exist. Pascal’s Wager holds that if you believe in God’s existence, and follow God’s wishes, then you will inevitably go to heaven. However, if you do not believe in God’s existence you will go to hell. Pascal proposes that it is well worth it to go to church on Sunday mornings instead of sleeping in, if by simply going to church you are spared from going to hell. If you live your life believing in God, and God does exist, then you go to heaven. If…

In this essay I first outline Pascal’s wager to the existence of God and then evaluate his argument. Pascal argues that one ought to wager “that God is” because “[i]f you gain, you gain all; if you lose, you lose nothing,” and that given this, one can bring oneself to believe in God. I argue that one cannot truly bring themselves to believe in God. Pascal’s argument is set up in three parts. The first part accepts that God is infinitely incomprehensible. To conclude to this, one has to…

been many arguments formed throughout the history of philosophy in support of the existence of God. Among these arguments is a unique claim known as Pascal’s Wager. Pascal’s Wager was formulated by the seventeenth century French philosopher Blaise Pascal. Pascal’s Wager is different than other philosophical arguments in the sense that it is not an evidence based argument. Pascal’s Wager is based solely on reason whereas other arguments, such as the teleological argument, are based on empirical…

The text “Abolish prison” by Pascal Emmanuel-Gobry conceptualized the idea of how using prison as a place to punish criminals excruciates more than aids because: criminals flourish, the prison rape epidemic, and many structural political reasons. The author begins the essay with how unsuccessful prisons are at the reconstruction of criminals and how the offenders flourish instead. Therefore, “...prison becomes a graduate school for crime, a facility for turning mediocre criminals into hardened…

Pascal explains throughout this section of his text, Classics of Western Thought: The Modern World, how humans need to work to find God in their lives to obtain their true selves. Pascal says “We naturally believe ourselves far more capable of reaching the centre of things than of embracing their circumference” (46). Through this, Pascal is stating his belief that Humans believe themselves to be “capable” of reaching…

understand the world around us. (Woolfolk, Winne, & Perry, 2016). Piaget saw children as “highly competent thinkers” and that they were naturally curious and motivated to learn (Conkbayir & Pascal, 2014, p.66). The adult’s role in a child’s life would be to encourage their curiosity and promote development (Conkbayir & Pascal, 2014). Piaget’s theories consist of the four stages of cognitive development and the concept of schemas, adaptation, and equilibrium. Emphasizing that every child passes…

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…