Pascal

Pascal’s PENSEES

2010312523 노진화

In PENSEES, Pascal said that we have to wager for god’s existence. He argued that it is better for us to believe in God by showing us the calculation of expected value. Then he had reached a conclusion that we have to believe in God because the expected value of wager for God is more than that of wager against God. However there are some points that Pascal may have ignored or did not consider. From now on, I will present some defects in Pascal’s wager.

First, to believe in God is something more than rational reasoning. In Pascal’s wager, he said that it is ‘better’ for us to believe in God since the expected value of wager for God is more than the expected value of wager against God, based on his calculation. So the reason for believing in God is merely that it is better for us. Since the God will give us all, after our death, people will try to believe because of that. But this is not a true belief. Believing based on thorough calculation of probability is not a real believing. If the calculation gave us a different result, such as that it is better not to believe in God than to believe in God, then people will not believe in God and so do Pascal. What this means is that, according to Pascal’s argument, Pascal is just trying to ‘make use’ of the God. God is the one that is believed by people only when it is needed. Otherwise, people will not believe in God. Therefore, prudential reason is not enough to serve as a right reason to believe in God.

Second, we cannot control our belief. If it is really better for us believe in God as Pascal had argued, then people will try to believe in God because it will give us all after our death. However, believing is actually out of our control. Belief should be derived from sincere heart but Pascal’s wager gives us only the rational reason. To believe in God cannot be achieved merely by rationality. People who believe in this way are not essentially different from people who just pretend to...