What are some of the logical flaws in Pascal's Wager?
by 
AntigoneRising
ANSWERS: 6
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Which religion to choose. EDIT: If one, such as myself, believes that the existence of a god is completely illogical and one would have to ignore natural instincts, morality, and reason, then one cannot possibly live happily believing in God. Ignoring these things can cause mental anguish. Hm. I don't know if that really answered the question the way I really wanted it to. I may have to think about this and come back to it.
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My view is this - if you believe, and God does not exist - Pascal's Wager states that you have not gained or lost any value. I sort of disagree - I think that living a certain way to appease an imaginary deity could have a negative affect on ones life. Such as, not being able to do something because it is forbidden, or being forced to do something that is deemed necessary. Therefore the expectation of value is decreased and results in a net loss.
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In the other thread but... False dichotomies. It is not a case of God Exists vs. God does not exist. Which God? Yaweh, Zeus, Shiva, Horus, Zeus, Allah, Ahura Mazda etc etc etc? That makes the "simple" logical choice all of a sudden a complex mass of differing positions, some if not most mutually exclusive. Also what God is going to be fooled by a man who is, at heart, at least a weak atheist "believing" on the off chance he might be wrong. That is what is called "paying lip service" and an all knowing God would not be fooled. And if he were fooled then he is not a God worthy of worship. The logical point is you are not really "believing" you are hedging your bets. That is not belief so the statement is again disingenuous and the argument collapses. Those are the two main ones from a logical standpoint.
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As others have said - which god to believe in. Also, the idea that you lose nothing by faking faith. If there is no God, the time you spent worshiping and the treasure yous spent on the church is wasted. The idea that God, if such exists, wants to be worshipped in the manner of an eastern potentate. Maybe you are just expected to get on with your life in a loving way. The equation cannot be balanced. On the one side you have a known cost, but on the other side you have the product of a number of infinities and infinitesimals, which is mot mathematically sensible.
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Try to oversee only for a moment on the whole question that the christian God isn't the only one worshipped in the world, and there are many beliefs to choose from. The logical implication of Pascal's Wager have been explained fairly well insofar, but there's even a theological flaw in it. Suppose Pascal was thinking at the monotheistic God. He's thinking about an omniscent God, able to discern between true believers and wagers acting "to impress if a God truly exist". So, from a strictly theological way of thinking, if there isn't a God, you earned the fame of a "good man", but nothing more, if there is, you may face is wrath as a liar... you know, Christ spoke very very ill about the "pharisaic credo".
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That simple belief in God is sufficient to grant reward, but he brilliantly points out the illogic in the atheist viewpoint.
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