Freethought & Rationalism Archive

Ba'alzamon · 09-05-2002, 09:17 AM

Today in my religion class, we discussed Pascal's wager. Fortunately, most people didn't like it, mainly because it didn't give a good reason for faith, but at least they didn't like it.

However, I remember hearing a good counter-arguement regarding Smith's Wager, but I can't quite remember what it is. I searched a couple times, but couldn't find anything...

Could anyone help?

Proxima Centauri · 09-05-2002, 09:47 AM

You can get information about the atheist answer to Pascal's Wager by accessing the search engine at the top right of the HOME PAGE of the SECULAR WEB. I will give you just one example of what you can get there. This is a quotation from Theodore Drange who is a Professor of Philosophy.
By PW Professor Drange means Pascal's Wager.

Quote:

5. It may be that God does not exist and, instead, some other being rules the universe. That being may dislike intensely and may inflict infinite punishment on anyone who believes in God or who believes anything out of self-interest (as recommended in PW). But a person who comes to believe in God on the basis of PW would in that case be in "a heap of trouble," even though God does not exist. The expected utility of the theist's belief situation would be infinitely worse than that of the nontheist. It follows that premise (c) of PW is false.

Here is the paper where that comes.

Pascal's Wager Refuted

<a href="http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/theodore_drange/wager.html" target="_blank">http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/theodore_drange/wager.html</a>

I hope you have a good time researching Pascal's Wager. I hope you research atheism thoroughly. Just make sure your religious teacher doesn't persuade you to spend so much time on atheism that you neglect your other subjects. Christians just might try dirty tricks like that. We need atheists and agnostics with good qualifications who have been to university etc.

Philosoft · 09-05-2002, 12:15 PM

<a href="http://iidb.org/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic&f=50&t=000580&p=" target="_blank">Smith's Wager</a>. Jamie_L's post is 3rd or 4th from the bottom.

Ba'alzamon · 09-06-2002, 10:49 AM

Brilliant.

Those were exactly what I was looking for.

Thanks a bunch!

09-05-2002, 09:17 AM	#1
Ba'alzamon Junior Member Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: A CWRU dorm in 4 months Posts: 12	Pascal's Wager & Smith's Wager Today in my religion class, we discussed Pascal's wager. Fortunately, most people didn't like it, mainly because it didn't give a good reason for faith, but at least they didn't like it. However, I remember hearing a good counter-arguement regarding Smith's Wager, but I can't quite remember what it is. I searched a couple times, but couldn't find anything... Could anyone help?

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09-05-2002, 12:15 PM	#3
Philosoft Veteran Member Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Southeast of disorder Posts: 6,829	<a href="http://iidb.org/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic&f=50&t=000580&p=" target="_blank">Smith's Wager</a>. Jamie_L's post is 3rd or 4th from the bottom.

09-06-2002, 10:49 AM	#4
Ba'alzamon Junior Member Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: A CWRU dorm in 4 months Posts: 12	Brilliant. Those were exactly what I was looking for. Thanks a bunch!

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