Pascal's Wager Analysis

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Section III of the Pensees is widely recognized as the Pascal's Wager. In this section, Pascal makes perhaps one of the most convincing argument in the history of philosophy. The French philosopher, physicist, and mathematician posited that human beings commonly bet with their lives on whether God exists or not. In paragraph 234, the philosopher notably affirms that if humans must act solely on the merit of some measure of surety or certainty, then they ought not to count on religion because it is not certain. Nonetheless, Pascal points out that human beings have been taking part in a lot of other uncertain activities such as sea voyages and battles, and thus religion should not be bargained. With that in mind, it appears that almost everything…show more content…
Without any substantial evidence, Pascal argues that human beings ought to believe in religion pointing out that a lot in life has been going on without robust surety be it in sea or battle. The author reasons that since nothing in life is undoubtedly known, then having faith in religion might be as rational as any other belief since the possible benefits from belief are much more significant than those from unbelief. However, it can be observed that the argument put across by the philosopher is just a means to compel individuals into taking part in some form of organized religion. Pascal paints "belief" in such a way that it appears like a means of self-preservation from a probable hypothetical threat rather than a means of attaining self-fulfillment. Moreover, Pascal proposes that believing in religion is the safest bet. The French philosopher also takes into assumption that one can logically opt to belief. However, it is impossible for one to make himself or herself believe in something honestly. Saying that one belief is something is easy but changing the authentic personal belief is never that easy. Beliefs are usually shaped by compelling reason as well as evidence, and therefore the argument put across by the French philosopher is…show more content…
The philosopher presents individuals with binary choice, but there could be many interpretations of the universe about religion. By blindly conforming to the Pascal wager, one could end up worshipping the wrong god without knowing making a choice even more difficult. The freedom for individuals to make decisions on their own is proving to enable humans to be willing to lead moral lives entirely without having to conform to social norms or those of organized religious factions. More so, the Pascal Wager and assumptions laid in paragraph 234 are becoming less popular as people are discovering the infinite number of Gods around the universe making a choice even more
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