Pascal's wager

noun

1. the argument put forth by Blaise Pascal that it is in one's best interest to believe in the existence of God, as it is a rational assumption and does no harm, and the possibility of eternal punishment in hell outweighs any advantage of believing otherwise.

Pascal's wager

noun

1. philosophy the argument that it is in one's rational self-interest to act as if God exists, since the infinite punishments of hell, provided they have a positive probability, however small, outweigh any countervailing advantage

Word History and Origins

Origin of Pascal's wager¹

First recorded in 1895–1900; named after Pascal, who formulated his proposition in his Pensées ( def. )

Word History and Origins

Origin of Pascal's wager¹

C17: named after Blaise _Pascal

Example Sentences

The machine was included in Christie's auction of the library of the late Catalonia collector Léon Parcé, which also featured Pascal's philosophical piece Pensées and the first printed version of "Pascal's wager".

Read more on BBC

The hippies who promoted the Californian Ideology had long since fled the scene, leaving people like Musk and Peter Thiel to logic-puzzle their way into Pascal’s Wager and revive millennia-old fears of the Antichrist.

Read more on Salon

It’s sort of like Pascal’s wager, right?

Read more on Slate

You write about a concept you call “‘Oumuamua’s wager,” after Pascal’s wager, 17th-century mathematician Blaise Pascal’s argument that the benefits of assuming God exists outweigh the drawbacks.

Read more on Scientific American

Pandemic Earlier this week, I kept on bringing up Pascal’s Wager: it’s better to slightly over-react in your preparations and precautions.

Read more on The Verge