Blaise Pascal

International Journal of Žižek Studies, Vol 5, No 1 (2011)

by Luis Felip

Pascal's Wager and the Many Gods Objection

by Paul Saka

Infini-rien: infinite utilities in Pascal's wager

by Toby Wardman

MA level submission (long, c.7500 words)

This essay is about Pascal’s wager, a practical argument for belief in God. I start by giving both an informal gloss... more This essay is about Pascal’s wager, a practical argument for belief in God. I start by giving both an informal gloss of the wager and a more detailed exposition of its various formulations. Having thus established a canonical version of the wager, I briefly clear up two common misunderstandings of Pascal’s position. I then proceed to the main theme of my essay: is the wager’s use of the concept of infinite utility problematic? I describe several problems arising from this concept, arguing that each could be solved were it not for the notion of infinite utility. I finish by offering a non-Pascalian version of the wager which avoids such problems by relying only on finite numbers.

« Le portrait à Port-Royal entre ressemblance et icône », Chroniques de Port-Royal, 59, 2009, p. 241-253.

by alberto frigo

Atheism and ecological gambling: “Pascal’s Wager” revised

by Mark Lindley

Published in the “Handbook” for the Fourth World Atheist Conference (Vijayawada, India, 1996).

La transformation par la vérité, la vérité comme transformation. Méthode et démarches thérapeutiques de la philosophie chez Pascal, Kierkegaard et Wittgenstein

by Chiara Piazzesi

in « Historia philosophica », 5, 2007, pp. 55-85

Il n'y a pas de grand Autre: el materialismo teológico de Pascal

by Luis Felip

∆αιµων. Revista Internacional de Filosofía, nº 51 (2010), ISSN: 1130-0507, pp. 87-101.

During his imprisonment in WWII, Althusser, as stated, only had a book within reach: Pascal’s Pensées, a classic that,... more During his imprisonment in WWII, Althusser, as stated, only had a book within reach: Pascal’s Pensées, a classic that, trough religious reflection, also involved epistemological, historical and sociological problems so in it we can find features «profoundly materialistic».2 Pascal’s influence is express, when Althusser takes from him the parable about the religious conversion, to explain (insufficiently) the fact of the ideological interpellation. However, Pascal ‘s texts keep intuitions that exceed the limits of the althusserian theory and that can be searched through the psychoanalytic theory of ideology as it is elaborated by the authors of the Slovene school.

Rewriting and Reconfiguring Alterity: Transformations of Lévinassian Ethics and the Hidden God In the Works of Sylvie Germain

by Amy Allen Sekhar

On the Validity of Pascal's Wager

by Antony Aumann

Forthcoming in The Heythrop Journal.

Recent scholarship has shown that the success of Pascal’s wager rests on precarious grounds. To avoid notorious... more Recent scholarship has shown that the success of Pascal’s wager rests on precarious grounds. To avoid notorious problems, it must appeal to considerations such as what probability we assign to the existence of various gods and what religion we think provides the greatest happiness in this life. Rational judgments concerning these matters are subject to change over time. Some claim that the wager therefore cannot support a steadfast commitment to God. I argue that this conclusion does not follow. By drawing upon the line of reasoning employed in getting married, I explain how unstable considerations can provide a sufficient rational foundation for a stable commitment.

Descartes and Pascal on the Eucharist

by Vlad Alexandrescu

published in Perspectives on Science, vol. 15, nr. 4, Winter 2007, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Mass., p. 434-449

Within Descartes' philosophy, the problem of the Eucharist provides scholars the occasion to investigate a nexus of... more Within Descartes' philosophy, the problem of the Eucharist provides scholars the occasion to investigate a nexus of questions belonging to different domains of his thought. In taking up this problem, about which there has been much written in the past few decades (see the bibliography below), I hope first of all to discern some order in the texts themselves, as well also as in their various interpretations, and then, from there, to propose a new perspective.

« L’écriture de l’histoire des Provinciales : révélateur des transformations, des fonctions et des usages de la polémique »

by Jean-Pascal Gay

in La Campagne des Provinciales, Chroniques de Port-Royal, 58, 2008, p. 35-49.

Review of R. GATTI, Politica e trascendenza. Saggio su Pascal

by Michele Paolini Paoletti

in Recensioni filosofiche, 56, gennaio 2011