Introduction to Philosophy: Overhead

Objections to Pascal’s Wager

Notice premise: If God exists and you believe in that God, then you will have infinite bliss.

Read as:
If the Christian God exists and you believe in the Christian God, then you will have infinite bliss.

But it is also true that:
If the anti-Christian God exists, and you believe in the Christian God, then you will have infinite suffering.

Christian God exists Anti-Christian God exists Neither God exists
Believe in the Christian God Infinite payoff
(heaven) Negative infinite payoff finite loss at most
(Pascal: finite gain)
Don’t believe Negative infinite? Infinite payoff? finite gain at most

Richard Lee, rlee@comp.uark.edu, last modified: 15 February 1999

	Christian God exists	Anti-Christian God exists	Neither God exists
Believe in the Christian God	Infinite payoff (heaven)	Negative infinite payoff	finite loss at most (Pascal: finite gain)
Don’t believe	Negative infinite?	Infinite payoff?	finite gain at most