Pascal's wager

English Etymology en French theologian Blaise Pascal = 1623 1662, who formulated the wager in the Pensées. Pronunciation en en-us-Pascal's wager.ogg Mid-Atlantic US Proper noun en religion An argument for theism (and specifically Christianity) maintaining that belief in the divine ensures happiness in this life and offers the possibility of eternal happiness (should God or divine beings exist), whereas atheism, even if it brings happiness in this life, offers no hope of eternal happiness and carries the risk of eternal damnation. en 1997-10-11 Rick Moen TAN: Mormons rec.arts.sf.written.robert-jordan 61ohd0$sgr@myrddin.imat.com http://groups.google.com/group/rec.arts.sf.written.robert-jordan/msg/934608fa971abdc7 In the unlikely event of losing Pascal's Wager, I intend to saunter in to Judgement Day with a bookshelf full of grievances, a flaming sword of my own devising, and a serious attitude problem. en 2001-10-17 w:Alan Dershowitz Letters to a Young Lawyer New York Basic Books 9780465016310 3950598M 194 http://books.google.com/books?id=D3ay6o_5YzAC&pg=PA194&dq=%22Pascal's+wager%22 I have always considered "Pascal's Wager" a questionable bet to place, since any God worth believing in would prefer an honest agnostic to a calculating hypocrite. en w:Paul de Man Mallarmé (1960) w:Martin McQuillan The Post-Romantic Predicament Edinburgh w:Edinburgh University Press 2012 part II (Igitur) 73 https://books.google.com/books?id=mqdvAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA73 978-0-7486-4105-5 Moreover, since we have now reached an extreme point in the development of consciousness, and know our own selves through and through, no 'ultimate self-doubt' remains which would allow us to ruse with death – as when, in Pascal's wager, it is the doubt about the afterlife which determines the choice. en Translations Pascal's wager Esperanto: la eo Paskala veto Finnish: fi pelurin todistus, fi Pascalin vaaka French: le fr pari de Pascal German: de pascalsche Wette f Greek: el στοίχημα του Πασκάλ n Hindi: hi पास्कल का दाँव m Italian: it Japanese: ja パスカルの賭け pasukaru no kake Korean: ko 파스칼의 내기 Polish: pl zakład Pascala m Portuguese: pt Russian: ru Spanish: la es apuesta de Pascal Further reading