Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (2008)
Authors |
|
Abstract |
“Pascal's Wager” is the name given to an argument due to Blaise Pascal for believing, or for at least taking steps to believe, in God. The name is somewhat misleading, for in a single paragraph of his Pensées, Pascal apparently presents at least three such arguments, each of which might be called a ‘wager’ — it is only the final of these that is traditionally referred to as “Pascal's Wager”. We find in it the extraordinary confluence of several important strands of thought: the justification of theism; probability theory and decision theory, used here for almost the first time in history; pragmatism; voluntarism (the thesis that belief is a matter of the will); and the use of the concept of infinity
|
Keywords | No keywords specified (fix it) |
Categories | (categorize this paper) |
Reprint years | 2018 |
Options |
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Download options
References found in this work BETA
No references found.
Citations of this work BETA
Salvaging Pascal’s Wager.Elizabeth Jackson & Andrew Rogers - 2019 - Philosophia Christi 21 (1):59-84.
Prove It! The Burden of Proof Game in Science Vs. Pseudoscience Disputes.Massimo Pigliucci & Maarten Boudry - 2014 - Philosophia 42 (2):487-502.
Know How and Acts of Faith.Paulina Sliwa - 2018 - In Matthew A. Benton, John Hawthorne & Dani Rabinowitz (eds.), Knowledge, Belief, and God: New Insights in Religious Epistemology. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 246-263.
The Black Hole Challenge: Precaution, Existential Risks and the Problem of Knowledge Gaps.Christian Munthe - 2019 - Ethics, Policy and Environment 22 (1):49-60.
View all 17 citations / Add more citations
Similar books and articles
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.
Is a Jamesian Wager the Only Safe Bet? On Jeff Jordan's New Book on Pascal's Wager.Volker Dieringer - 2009 - Archiv für Geschichte der Philosophie 91 (2):237-247.
Wagering Belief: Examining Two Objections to Pascal's Wager.D. Groothuis - 1994 - Religious Studies 30 (4):479 - 486.
On Rescher on Pascal's Wager.Graham Oppy - 1991 - International Journal for Philosophy of Religion 30 (3):159 - 168.
Analytics
Added to PP index
2009-01-28
Total views
175 ( #54,610 of 2,411,732 )
Recent downloads (6 months)
12 ( #55,930 of 2,411,732 )
2009-01-28
Total views
175 ( #54,610 of 2,411,732 )
Recent downloads (6 months)
12 ( #55,930 of 2,411,732 )
How can I increase my downloads?
Downloads