pascals wager
"Who is God? Where is God? Does God really exist? Should I believe in God?" These are some of the questions which are asked by millions of people each and every day who are desperately trying to find some meaning in their life. Blaise Pascal tried to help society, as well as himself, to find the best solution to these problems. Pascal attempted to determine if it was worth it to bet on God's existence. Were the atheists right in not wasting their time concerning the existence of God? Have the true believers all been hoaxed into one big illusion? Although a person will not actually be able to find out the truth until they are dead, Pascal compared the gains and losses of believing there is a God during your finite life. Before one is aloud to critique Pascal's Wager, one must first answer the question, "What is Pascal's Wager?".Though Reason alone cannot lead us to God, Pascal states an ingenious argument that is rational, on prudential grounds, to behave as god exists.(Cottingham, 1997, p. 256) Due to the lack of conclusive rational grounds for belief, we must wager or bet on his existence. (Cottingham, 1997, p. 256) Pascal says "the prize here is an infinite or infinitely happy life, one chance of winning against a finite nu
mber of chances of losing.... This leaves only one choice open, in any game that involves infinity, where there is not an infinite number of chances of losing to set against the chances of winning. There is nothing to ponder- you must stake everything"( Pascal,1995, no.418) His wager can basically be summed up as: Pascal's Wager. (1998). [Online]. Available: www.saintmarys.edu/~incandel/pascalswager.html I do agree that betting on the existence of God is the most prudent option, but not for the same reasons as Pascal. I believe that it is better to believe in God to give people hope and have something for them to look forward to. I could not imagine a world where God did not exist. There would be too much evil and greed in the world. I also believe God is what keeps people in line, or helps them to stay on track regardless if there is a reward or not. I am ashamed to think that we as people are purely being good for the sake of a reward. Isn't that greed itself. There is no difference between that or wanting all the money in the world. Pascal sees the belief in God as an advantage but not as a source of willingness to do good. Furthermore, I consider God to be more of an Idea than an actual being. There is more value of believing that there is something greater and far more awesome than the human race, than believing there is a super being who controls the world. I truly do hope there is something greater than us and greater than what we have achieved for the sake of the human race, because if there is no God and this is all we have done with the world I am disappointed, and I am sure many others are too. Many flaws have been brought up because of the simplistic comments Pascal has made. Another flaw is the belief in different Gods. Suppose there is a God yet a person may be worshiping the wrong God, and the true God punishes him or her for this. How is one to know if they are worshiping the right God? Does it matter which God we Worship? In conclusion, Pascal's wager proves in a simplistic view that it is "the best bet"
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Approximate Word count = 1380
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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