20 Jul Outline the arguments of Pascal’s Wager.
Order Instructions
Assignment 3d: Blaise Pascal Response Writer please address all questions and also reference the video in reference section and paper
Objective: Outline the arguments of Pascal’s Wager.
Mindset: Demonstrate how Pascal’s Wager was used to respond to skeptics.
Instructions
Blaise Pascal (1623-1662) was a French mathematician and philosopher. Some of his scientific accomplishments included a crude form of the calculator, and work on liquids and gases which later led to advances in hydraulics. His best-known work though was his Christian apologetic, Pensees, which remained unfinished at his death. This well-known work explored the role of faith and reason. The best-known chapter is called “Pascal’s Wager” where his “wagered” bet stated that if someone believed in God and God turned out not the real, they had lost nothing, but if someone chose not to believe in God and God turned out to be real, they would lose all eternity, so it wiser to believe in God than not believe. It is a tongue-twister, but this simplistic argument has a lot of merit to it.
Read Blaise Pascal, Pensees Section 3 “Of the Necessity of the Wager” (p. 38-50) (Links to an external site.). http://www.ccel.org/ccel/pascal/pensees.pdf
Write a 1-page double-spaced paper where you discuss Pascal’s argument regarding his famous wager.
How does he build his argument?
What was the intellectual climate he was responding to?
How persuasive would his critics find his argument?
