Infinite Return: Two Ways of Wagering with Pascal

Religious Studies 29 (2):139 - 149 (1993)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

Pascal's wager has fascinated philosophers far in excess of its reputation as effective apologetics. Very few of the wager's defenders, in fact, have retained more than an academic interest in its power to persuade. Partly this is a matter of good manners. Pascal is supposed to have pitched his wager at folks who understand only self-interested motivations, and today it is no longer fashionable for defenders of theism to disparage the character of their opponents. But partly the low-key concern with apologetics expresses a philosophical judgement. Pascal's defenders have found the question of the wager's audience to be less philosophically engaging than the logic of its argument. I believe that this assessment is mistaken. The most puzzling feature of Pascal's wager is its invocation of infinite utility. What are finite human beings, theists or otherwise, supposed to make of the idea of an infinitely desirable happiness? There are, I will argue, two sorts of response to this question, and depending on which sort Pascal had in mind, the logic of his wager comes out very differently

Links

PhilArchive



    Upload a copy of this work     Papers currently archived: 90,221

External links

Setup an account with your affiliations in order to access resources via your University's proxy server

Through your library

Similar books and articles

Pascal's mugging.Nick Bostrom - 2009 - Analysis 69 (3):443-445.
Pascal's Wager is a possible bet (but not a very good one): Reply to Harmon Holcomb III.Graham Oppy - 1996 - International Journal for Philosophy of Religion 40 (2):101 - 116.
Review: The Psychologists Return. [REVIEW]Pascal Engel - 1998 - Synthese 115 (3):375 - 393.
Review Essay:THE Psychologists Return.Pascal Engel - 1998 - Synthese 115 (3):375-393.
Habits of the Heart.Thomas Hibbs - 2005 - International Philosophical Quarterly 45 (2):203-220.
Pascal's Wager and Infinite Utilities.Antony Duff - 1986 - Analysis 46 (2):107 - 109.

Analytics

Added to PP
2011-05-29

Downloads
29 (#472,224)

6 months
1 (#1,028,709)

Historical graph of downloads
How can I increase my downloads?

Author's Profile

James Wetzel
Villanova University

Citations of this work

Add more citations

References found in this work

No references found.

Add more references