Single Idea 7455

[catalogued under 28. God / B. Proving God / 2. Proofs of Reason / d. Pascal's Wager]

Full Idea

Pascal knows that one cannot decide to believe in God, but he thinks one can act so that one will very probably come to believe in God, by following a life of 'holy water and sacraments'.

Gist of Idea

Pascal knows you can't force belief, but you can make it much more probable

Source

report of Blaise Pascal (Pensées [1662], 418 (233)) by Ian Hacking - The Emergence of Probability Ch.8

Book Reference

Hacking,Ian: 'The Emergence of Probability' [CUP 1975], p.66


A Reaction

This meets the most obvious and simple objection to Pascal's idea, and Pascal may well be right. I'm not sure I could resist belief after ten years in a monastery.