Questions tagged [pascal]
Blaise Pascal (1623 – 1662) was a French mathematician and theologian.
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Is Blaise Pascal's approach to "curing unbelief" in the proposition that God exists philosophically sound?
Hence it comes that, if there are as many risks on one side as on the
other, the course is to play even; and then the certainty of the stake
is equal to the uncertainty of the gain, so far is it from ...
user66156
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Blaise Pascal and a possible unfinished Philosophical System?
We know that Blaise Pascal died young and was unable to develop many of his theses that are embryonically present in his Pensées, his treatise on Grace, or his reflections on the spirit of geometry. ...
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What's the difference between "good sense" (𝘣𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘴) and "common sense"?
What's the difference between "good sense" (Pascal's "bon sens") and "common sense"?
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Are there versions of Pascal's Wager in which the potential benefits can be realized during one's lifetime?
The conventional formulation of Pascal's Wager hinges on the uncertainty of awaiting confirmation until after death to determine the success of the wager. This assumes that the occurrence of death ...
user66156
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Pascal, Pensee #3 and a counterargument to natural theology
Here is the text of Pascal's Pensees No. 3 (in the Krailsheimer translation):
'There is change and succession in all things.' 'You are wrong, there is . . .' 'Why, do you not say yourself that the ...
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Are there any religions out there where skeptics are treated better than believers of a wrong religion (by God)?
It is a fact that most, if not all religious people view their religion as full of reward. This commonly takes the form of an after life, or even supposed "blessings" in this life. I'm ...
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Doesn't fallibilism complexify Pascal's wager further?
We can never know whether we have accumulated all the knowledge in the world or not. This is a general statement. For example, a powerful counterargument against the contingency argument might exist ...
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How should one treat probability in taking a decision?
Suppose, I have a machine that accurately gives me the probability of any event occuring.
It's obvious what to do when
The probabilities are 0.5 and 0.5 (Do nothing)
The probabilities are 0 and 1 (...
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Doesn't Blaise Pascal's belief in predestination void the wager argument?
Given that Blaise Pascal believed in predestination, doesn't that void the wager argument?
What is at stake? I presume it's salvation.
How is it determined? It's implicit finding faith is a ...
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What are the main differences between ancient and modern scepticism?
What would the main differences be between 'ancient' and 'modern' scepticism?
Specifically, how could one contrast the writings of Sextus Empiricus vs Pascal & Montaigne?
Any insight would be ...
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Objection to Pascal's Wager (I don't see this argument being made)
I've always felt the following is the most direct obvious objection to Pascal's wager, yet I see no philosophers making it. I'm curious why.
Taken from here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pascal%...
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The Melisandre's Wager
The Pascal's Wager has been criticized because presupposes that the only possible god is the Christian god.
Pascal acknowledges the the existence of his god is doubtful. But even if we suppose that ...
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Why is maximizing expected value always rational according to Pascal? [duplicate]
In the modern version of Pascal's wager argument, we assume an infinite value to ending up in heaven, and hence an infinite expected value for choosing to believe in god.
I do not understand why this ...
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Why did Pascal think — All of humanity’s problems stem from man’s inability to sit quietly in a room alone?
This blogpost has the full quote from Pensée, B139, Divertissement
Quand je m’y suis mis quelquefois à considérer les diverses agitations des hommes et les périls et les peines où ils s’exposent ...
user8572
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How valid is assignment of probabilites when evidence is totally lacking, as in Pascal's Wager?
The SEP article discussing Pascal's Wager states,
Premise 1 presupposes that you should have a probability for God’s existence in the first place. However, perhaps you could rationally fail to ...
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