PHL 101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Oxford University Press, Omnibenevolence, Omnipotence
4 Dec 2020
School
Department
Course
Professor
Evan Reed
PHL 101
Introduction to Philosophy
Fall 2018
Professor Herman
● The ‘Many Gods’ Objection
○ Pascal assumes that the wager is over belief in a Christian God. That is an
assumption. That much is clear. He is all the time talking about a God who
promises eternal life for belief in him. That is the expected benefit of the wager,
if you wager belief. But the problem is that you might as well bet on all kinds of
gods that you have heard about, each promising different rewards and benefits
and different ways of obtaining them. There could be many wagers: Christian
God or no Christian God, Muslim God or no Muslim God, Hindu God or no
Hindu God. Even if you assume that betting on one means you exclude the others,
which one do you bet on?
● Denigration of Human Reason
○ A negative view concerning the ability of reason to decide is the starting point
for Pascal's Wager. But surely one is justified in challenging Pascal's negative
view of reason? The ability to reason is surely an important human attribute. Faith
and belief play important roles in human life – and not just in the overtly religious
sense of those terms. Many would argue that faith and reason can be mutually
beneficial. Reason without faith in something or someone (even if it is just
yourself) can be an arid thing. While faith without reason can be very bad at
looking beyond itself and very ineffective in seeking to speak to the world and
its needs.
● The Problem of Evil
■ Davies, Brian, An Introduction to the Philosophy of Religion, 3rd
edition (Oxford: OUP, 2004), See chpt. 10 ‘God and evil.’
■ Murray, Michael J. and Rea, Michael, An Introduction to the
Philosophy of Religion (Cambridge: CUP, 2008). See chpt. 6 ‘Anti-
theistic Arguments.’
■ Zagzebski, Linda T., Philosophy of Religion: An Historical
Introduction (Oxford: 2007). See chpt. 7 ‘The Problem of Evil.’
○ Philosophy and Evil
■ Philosophers are interested in the concept of evil, especially in relation
Document Summary
Pascal assumes that the wager is over belief in a christian god. He is all the time talking about a god who promises eternal life for belief in him. That is the expected benefit of the wager, if you wager belief. But the problem is that you might as well bet on all kinds of gods that you have heard about, each promising different rewards and benefits and different ways of obtaining them. God or no christian god, muslim god or no muslim god, hindu god or no. A negative view concerning the ability of reason to decide is the starting point for pascal"s wager. The ability to reason is surely an important human attribute. Faith and belief play important roles in human life and not just in the overtly religious sense of those terms. Many would argue that faith and reason can be mutually beneficial.
