The Unlikely Comeback of Pascal’s Wager: on the Instability of Secular Post-Modernism

Philosophia 51 (1):337-348 (2021)
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Abstract

Pascal’s wager faces serious criticisms and is generally considered unconvincing. We argue that it can make a comeback powered by an unlikely ally: postmodernism. If one denies the existence of objective facts (e.g. about God or His relation to the world), then various non-theological considerations should come to the fore when considering the rationality of religious commitment and the choice of education for one’s children. In fact, we shall argue that, if one genuinely cares about one’s children, then – in many Western countries – one cannot consistently be both secular and post-modernist.

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Author Profiles

Daniel Statman
University of Haifa
Sam Lebens
University of Haifa

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References found in this work

Deciding to believe.Bernard Williams - 1973 - In Problems of the Self. Cambridge University Press. pp. 136--51.
The miracle of theism: arguments for and against the existence of God.J. L. Mackie - 1982 - New York: Oxford University Press. Edited by Bernard Williams.
Truth and Progress: Philosophical Papers.Richard Rorty - 1991 - Cambridge University Press.
The Miracle of Theism.John Leslie Mackie - 1982 - Philosophy 58 (225):414-416.

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