Pascal's Wager versus the Cartesian Model
Human Faith in the Midst of Scientific Thought and Revolution
Nov 23, 2008
While the rise of the scientific revolution was embedded within the Cartesian model of reason and rationalism, the voice of Blaise Pascal seems at odds with the rest of his generation of philosophers and intellectuals. Nonetheless, his ideas would be of great relevance especially for the later movement of existentialism.
Descartes and the Method of Radical Doubt
Descartes insisted that we are rational beings endowed with reason and that the best method towards truth was "radical doubt". One may doubt everything from God to one’s body, but not deny the fact that there is a thinking substance, consciousness, hence his famous motto of “cogito ergo sum” (I think therefore I am).
Nonetheless, according to Pascal, doubt could only lead only to more doubt. He claimed that reason was not a stable foundation for one’s existence and that humans were mostly guided by beliefs and feelings. For Pascal the only solution and relief from existential suffering was faith. This need for faith resounds with later existentialist philosophers like the atheistic Sartre who agreed that it is necessary for humankind to believe in something that would give their lives meaning and purpose.
The Heart Has its Reasons
Pascal was a mathematician and a scientist, yet he stressed that it is the heart and feelings, not reason and logic, that make us who we are, that give us our specific human qualities and traits. While Descartes stressed that language was an innate, solely human activity, for Pascal free will was of much more importance; we have a choice and must constantly make decisions in life.
Despite his scientific bent Pascal believed that empiricism was not able to shed light on complex human matters. Human personality was fraught with paradox and contradiction and science would not have the necessary tools to explain such phenomena.
Pascal’s Wager on God’s Existence
Pascal’s greatest literary work is Pensées (Thoughts). There he discusses his main philosophical struggles but does not offer clear or definite answers, instead he insists on the need for humility and faith. One of his most famous examples therein is “Pascal’s Wager” where he claims that there is nothing to lose by believing in God.
Reason has its limitations and it cannot possibly grasp the existence of God. One must either take a guess or a leap of faith. Yet as Pascal, a major figure in probability theory, put it, it is a win-win situation to “bet” on God’s existence .
If there is a God and an afterlife, you will gain eternal life and His grace. If it turned out that there is no God and you die, then nothing would be lost as one would not exist anymore. Yet on the other hand, if one were to chose that God did not exist and find out that one was wrong, then one would lose everything since one would spend an eternal life of pain and suffering in hell. For Pascal, this example also underlines the necessity of religious faith for human existence.
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