Philosophy
Blaise Pascal is, in my mind at least, almost always a mixed bag. Many of the thoughts he expressed in his appropriately titled book, Pensées, are decidedly parochial and antiquated, but for all that, it's also quite impressive to see how far ahead of his time he was in other respects, to the point that many of his philosophical and psychological insights would eventually inspire even the atheist existentialists of the 19th and 20th centuries.
And this, of course, is to say nothing about his mathematical brilliance, his contributions to physics, and his abilities as an inventor. As a highly devoted Christian, and as one of the founding fathers of probability theory, it should come as no great surprise that Pascal tried to work out a way to justify the rationality of belief in God through the rigor of a mathematical argument, which has come to be known now as Pascal's Wager, one of the more popular arguments theists use to justify their faith, and the essence of which is explained, and critiqued, in the animation below.
And if you want to listen to the creator of this animation explaining his criticism of Pascal's Wager, you can find it below:
- God, Darwin, And Conservative Kumbaya
In a recent op/ed in The New York Times, Robert Wright offers a "grand bargain" in a bid to arrange a ceasefire in the war between the religious and those who accept evolution. We can form, he argues, a theory completely consistent with evolution by simply...
- French Enlightenment
.In the 18th century there were marked changes in the thought and philosophy of European people. The Enlightenment writers believed that they were casting off the age-old shackles of ignorance and authority, and were entering an epoch enlightened by science,...
- Peter Singer Vs John Lennox - Is There A God?
Most public academic debates concerning the existence of God tend to feature religious apologists who propose sophisticated philosophical arguments for the existence of a supernatural or transcendent Being. Here is where we're exposed to things like...
- Pascal's Wager For Atheists
The French philosopher and mathematician Blaise Pascal was a true genius, and much of what he wrote in his famous Pensées has become greatly influential in modern philosophy, especially as it relates to questions of existentialism, phenomenology and...
- "fate/luck" Poll
Do you believe in fate or luck? Yes...0 No...2 Maybe...3 If you are having a streak of good luck, you don't want to rock the boat and express disbelief...kind of like Pascal's Wager. Sometimes you are in the right place at the right time and...
Philosophy
Pascal's Wager - Betting on Infinity
And this, of course, is to say nothing about his mathematical brilliance, his contributions to physics, and his abilities as an inventor. As a highly devoted Christian, and as one of the founding fathers of probability theory, it should come as no great surprise that Pascal tried to work out a way to justify the rationality of belief in God through the rigor of a mathematical argument, which has come to be known now as Pascal's Wager, one of the more popular arguments theists use to justify their faith, and the essence of which is explained, and critiqued, in the animation below.
And if you want to listen to the creator of this animation explaining his criticism of Pascal's Wager, you can find it below:
- God, Darwin, And Conservative Kumbaya
In a recent op/ed in The New York Times, Robert Wright offers a "grand bargain" in a bid to arrange a ceasefire in the war between the religious and those who accept evolution. We can form, he argues, a theory completely consistent with evolution by simply...
- French Enlightenment
.In the 18th century there were marked changes in the thought and philosophy of European people. The Enlightenment writers believed that they were casting off the age-old shackles of ignorance and authority, and were entering an epoch enlightened by science,...
- Peter Singer Vs John Lennox - Is There A God?
Most public academic debates concerning the existence of God tend to feature religious apologists who propose sophisticated philosophical arguments for the existence of a supernatural or transcendent Being. Here is where we're exposed to things like...
- Pascal's Wager For Atheists
The French philosopher and mathematician Blaise Pascal was a true genius, and much of what he wrote in his famous Pensées has become greatly influential in modern philosophy, especially as it relates to questions of existentialism, phenomenology and...
- "fate/luck" Poll
Do you believe in fate or luck? Yes...0 No...2 Maybe...3 If you are having a streak of good luck, you don't want to rock the boat and express disbelief...kind of like Pascal's Wager. Sometimes you are in the right place at the right time and...