What does pascal's wager mean?
Definitions for pascal's wager
pas·cal's wa·ger
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Pascal's Wager
Pascal's Wager is an argument in apologetic philosophy which was devised by the seventeenth-century French philosopher, mathematician, and physicist, Blaise Pascal. It posits that humans all bet with their lives either that God exists or does not exist. Given the possibility that God actually does exist and assuming the infinite gain or loss associated with belief in God or with unbelief, a rational person should live as though God exists and seek to believe in God. If God does not actually exist, such a person will have only a finite loss. Pascal formulated the wager within a Christian framework. The wager was set out in section 233 of Pascal's posthumously published Pensées. Pensées, meaning thoughts, was the name given to the collection of unpublished notes which, after Pascal's death, were assembled to form an incomplete treatise on Christian apologetics. Historically, Pascal's Wager was groundbreaking because it charted new territory in probability theory, marked the first formal use of decision theory, and anticipated future philosophies such as existentialism, pragmatism, and voluntarism.
Suggested Resources
pascal's wager
Read the full text of the Pascal's Wager poem by Kurt Philip Behm on the Poetry.com website.
Numerology
Chaldean Numerology
The numerical value of pascal's wager in Chaldean Numerology is: 3
Pythagorean Numerology
The numerical value of pascal's wager in Pythagorean Numerology is: 8
Translations for pascal's wager
From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary
- pascals satsningSwedish
- cá cược của pascalVietnamese
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"pascal's wager." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 27 Apr. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/pascal%27s+wager>.
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