Pascal's wager
Pascal's wager proper noun: an argument for theism (and specifically Christianity) maintaining that belief in the divine ensures happiness in this life and offers the possibility of eternal happiness (should God or divine beings exist), whereas atheism, even if it brings happiness in this life, offers no hope of eternal happiness and carries the risk of eternal damnation.
Proper noun
Pascal's wager
- An argument for theism (and specifically Christianity) maintaining that belief in the divine ensures happiness in this life and offers the possibility of eternal happiness (should God or divine beings exist), whereas atheism, even if it brings happiness in this life, offers no hope of eternal happiness and carries the risk of eternal damnation.
- In the unlikely event of losing Pascal's Wager, I intend to saunter in to Judgement Day with a bookshelf full of grievances, a flaming sword of my own devising, and a serious attitude problem.1997 October 11, Rick Moen, “TAN: Mormons”, in rec.arts.sf.written.robert-jordan (Usenet), message-ID <61ohd0$sgr@myrddin.imat.com>
- I have always considered "Pascal's Wager" a questionable bet to place, since any God worth believing in would prefer an honest agnostic to a calculating hypocrite.2001 October 17, Alan Dershowitz, Letters to a Young Lawyer, New York: Basic Books, →ISBN, →OL, page 194
Pascal's wager meaning in Hindi
Pascal's wager in Hindi
- Pascal's wager
- पास्कल का दाँव pāskal kā dā̃v
Origin of Pascal's wager
Named after French theologian Blaise Pascal (1623–1662), who formulated the wager in the Pensées.
Questions about Pascal's wager
- What does Pascal's wager mean?
- Pascal's wager means an argument for theism (and specifically Christianity) maintaining that belief in the divine ensures happiness in this life and offers the possibility of eternal happiness (should God or divine beings exist), whereas atheism, even if it brings happiness in this life, offers no hope of eternal happiness and carries the risk of eternal damnation.
- What is Pascal's wager in Hindi?
- Pascal's wager in Hindi is पास्कल का दाँव (pāskal kā dā̃v). See Pascal's wager meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is Pascal's wager?
- Pascal's wager is a proper noun.
Words near Pascal's wager in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: Pascal's wager (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-Pascal's wager.ogg.
Cite this entry: “Pascal's wager.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/pascal%27s_wager. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
