Criticism of Pascals Wager Essay - 1544 Words

The proof for the existence of God is an issue that may never be resolved. It has caused division among families and friends, nations and society. The answer to the question â€Å"does God exist?† is almost an impossible one to give with certainty seeing that there is a variety of people, ideas, cultures and beliefs. So how does one know if one’s actions here on earth could have eternal consequences? What is, if any, a â€Å"safe bet† to make? Blaise Pascal was a 15th century philosopher and a mathematician who proposed the idea that although one cannot know for certain that God exists, one can make a â€Å"safe bet† that it is far better to believe in God than not to believe in God. This is not a proof for the existence of God but rather an idea that†¦show more content†¦But even so, when thought about it carefully, that person lived an admirable life—a life to be proud of. All the earthly pleasures mentioned above will not take a great de al of importance at the end of that person’s life. Thus, one can conclude that even though the person in a sense did â€Å"waste† time praying, going to Mass, offering sacrifices, perhaps in the priesthood, living a chaste and celibate life, and fasting, all of these things were not for the detriment of the person but for the benefit of the person. On the other hand Pascal presents another situation in his argument. If a person does not believe in God and lives a completely sinful lifestyle—partying, receiving all pleasures, drinking, doing heroin, having a blast—and in the end finds out that there is not a God, then that person is â€Å"free† in a sense. That person will not be eternally condemned for all the wrongdoing that person did in life. In Pascal’s final scenario, he presents an alternative outcome to the previous situation. If the aforementioned person comes to the end of life to find out that there is a God then that person has lo st everything. That person will receive the ultimate punishment: eternal damnation in the absence of God. Hence Pascal’s belief that it is in a person’s best interest to believe in God because the odds are in the favor of the believer. However, Pascal’s argument has quite some flaws in the way it is brought forth.Show MoreRelatedEssay on Pascal’s Wager984 Words   |  4 PagesIn this paper I will be discussing Pascal’s Wager. What I first plan to do in this paper is explain the argument of Pascal’s Wager. Next I will explain how Pascal tries to convince non-theists why they should believe in God. I will then explain two criticisms in response to Pascal’s argument. Finally, I will discuss whether or not these criticisms show Pascal’s reasoning to be untenable. Pascal’s Wager is an argument that tries to convince non-theists why they should believe in the existence ofRead MorePascal s Wager : A Prayer, But Let The Good Times Roll1601 Words   |  7 PagesPascal’s Wager: Say a Prayer, But Let the Good Times Roll One of my favorite quotes is what I also happened to name this paper. The quote comes from a song (Thnks fr th Mmrs by Fall Out Boy, the full quote being â€Å"Say a prayer, but let the good times roll in case God doesn t show†) and while it is often used in a sardonic manner, there is a lot of truth in it. Coming from a household where one side has to be in the front row every Sunday and the other believes that everything intimate is betweenRead MorePascal : The Benefits Or Drawbacks For Believing1695 Words   |  7 Pagesin God. Pascal believed that reason could not show if God existed or not. He proposed that people must â€Å"wager† one way or the other on the sides of believing in God. He states God will, reward whoever accepts him, and infinitely punish or abandon whoever rejects him. Pascal’s argument is wise in the aspect that it persuades people to believe in a being, without proof of this being. Pascal’s wager is stout as it appeals to peopleâ €™s own happiness/self-interest, but displays a weakness as only discussesRead MoreThe Doctrine Of God : The Justification For God1566 Words   |  7 Pagesare motivated by fear whereas the committed are motivated by hope, James refers to a fear driven decision as irrational. One of the most iconic arguments for the defense of fideism was proposed by Blaise Pascal. The argument, rightfully named Pascal’s Wager, breaks down belief in God into terms of gambling. There is two categories of people: believers and non-believers. These two groups are then paired with two possible situations: God exists and God does not exist. Then outcomes are derived forRead MoreThe Many Gods Objection And Why It Is A Good Argument Against The Claim1497 Words   |  6 PagesObjection’ as a criticism to the claim: ‘Prudence demands that rational agents join, and participate in, a religion.’ I will first focus for a little while on Pascal’s Wager which, I feel, best demonstrates why people see the title claim as a true one. I will continue by analysing the ‘Many Gods Objection’ and why it is a good argument against the title claim, before concluding that the title claim is not strong enough to hold up against the ‘Many Gods Ob jection’. Pascal’s wager is famously one ofRead MoreQuestions On Pascal s Wager1833 Words   |  8 PagesPascal’s Wager is often considered one of philosophies weakest religious arguments to date. Pascal invents a wager to persuade the one who questions God into attending church, following the Ten Commandments, and following any other traditions in the Catholic Church. The wager is, if a person is a believer and after departing from this earth they find that they are correct, then their rewards are infinite. They will receive eternal life and a relationship with God in heaven. On the other hand if aRead MoreQuestions On Pascal s Wager1878 Words   |  8 PagesI am arguing that Pascal’s Wager is significantly stronger of a rationale when more social factors are taken into consideration. In his time, Blaise Pascal formed the foundation of the Pascal’s Wager we know of today, posthumously in the form of ‘Infinirien’. Though this is more easily defensible then Pascal’ Wager, the modified version has garnered enough popularity and has enough similar that it is the target of most criticisms. Pascal came up with a theory of understanding the consequences ofRead MoreEssay about The Existence of God1350 Words   |  6 PagesGod is given the attributes of being a rational moral being that is concerned with the notion of human justice and suffering because of the fact that he is all powerful, all knowing, and everywhere at once (50). Given such characteristics draws criticism and ire considering that on any given day the world as we know it is plagued by death, pain, suffering, and an overall unsatisfactory life. It goes on to say that if God was what he is thought to be and more shouldn’t his power reflect as a utopianRead More A Critical Discussion of Blaise Pascals The Wager Essay example2074 Words   |  9 Pages A Critical Discussion of Blaise Pascals The Wager   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the gambling world bets are made based on odds, the probability or likelihood that something would happen. In the court of law, cases are decided upon by the weight of evidence presented by the respective parties. The common link between these general scenarios is that decisions are made based on some outside evidential factor. The more probable something is likely to happen, or the more evidence presented in favor or opposed to somethingRead MoreDoes God Exist?1366 Words   |  5 Pagesof a higher being or God, some of the main ones are; Pascal’s Wager, the Ontological argument, the Cosmological argument, the Teleological argument, the Moral argument, and the argument from religious experience. A classic argument that is used a lot is the first cause that states †all events in the natural world must have a cause therefore God must be the initiator of all events.† So my question is; is there a higher being or God? Pascal’s Wager which, is an idea that was established by a man named

Lion King vs. Hamlet - 2415 Words

Lucas Verde Dr. Arendt ENG4U -2 26 January 2015 Hakuna Matata? That is the Question A mother says to her young child, â€Å"Honey, come downstairs and watch Hamlet!† A statement which might sound ludicrous at first, is in reality, more sensible than one might think. Since 1994, The Lion King has been a must-see film for children all around the world. Its 8.5 rating on IMDB lists it alongside of some of the greatest movies ever made. Children’s movies that were released around this time were all shallow and simplistic. The reason why The Lion King was so successful is because it was an unexpected and pleasant anomaly. The Lion King is a story of responsibility and revenge, masked by a setting that is known to be appealing to children.†¦show more content†¦Scar and Claudius were both represented as cowards. Examples of this lie in the murders of their brothers. Being physically and morally weak, Scar killed Mufasa at a time where he was defenseless, begging for scar to save him, seconds away from death. The same goes for Claudius, as he poisoned King Hamlet as he was sleeping. Comparisons between the deaths of these two characters can be made as well. The poisoned chalice in which Claudius originally used to try to kill Hamlet, resulted in the cause of his own death. Hamlet forced Claudius to drink the cup and said â€Å"Here, thou incestuous, murderous, damnà ¨d Dane, Drink off this potion. Is thy union here? Follow my mother† (5.2.355-59). In The Lion King, Scar used the hyenas to try to kill Simba, but it was the hyenas who ultimately took Scar’s life to revenge how they were treated. On the surface, it would appear as if the comparable characters to Hamlet’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern would be Simba’s friends Timone and Pumba. However, that was not the case. The hyenas were in fact the modern representation of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. This was due to the fact that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern in reality were not true friends of Hamlet. The reason why they appear in the play was not b ecause they were concerned for Hamlet’s well-being, it was because they were hired and paid by the King and Queen, as shown in 2.2: KING. TheShow MoreRelatedSimilarities Between Hamlet And Lion King834 Words   |  4 Pages Hamlet Vs. Lion King â€Å"The Lion King† is watched by children all over the world. It is a classic Disney movie that many watch for fun and entertainment, but could there be something else to this film? The plot of â€Å"The Lion King† is very similar to Shakespeare’s play,† Hamlet†. Some similarities include the lives of Simba and prince Hamlet are changed due to their evil uncles, both fathers die, and both fathers come back as ghosts. Each character in â€Å"The Lion King† connects with a character in â€Å"Hamlet†Read MoreWalt Disneys The Lion King Essay1031 Words   |  5 Pagesarguably be the best animated feature of all time in The Lion King. With a moral base unlike most of the movies released at the time, TLK placed a childrens facade on a very serious story of responsibility and revenge. However, this theme is one of the oldest in history, and it is not the least apparent in one of the oldest works of literature by The Bard himself, William Shak espeare. The work that Disneys TLK parallels is none other than Hamlet: Prince of Denmark and the film shadow this work so closelyRead More William Faulkners Use of Shakespeare Essay5388 Words   |  22 PagesBergson, and Cervantes, to name only a few--but the one writer that he consistently mentioned as a constant and continuing influence was William Shakespeare. Though Faulkner’s claim as a fledgling writer in 1921 that â€Å"[he] could write a play like Hamlet if [he] wanted to† (FAB 330) may be dismissed as an act of youthful posturing, the statement serves to indicate that from the beginning Shakespeare was the standard by which Faulkner would judge his own creativity. In later years Faulkner frequentlyRead MoreA Picatrix Miscellany52019 Words   |  209 Pagescomprehensive of the grimoires, or handbooks of magic. The attribution to the Andalusian mathematician al-Majriti (or al-Madjriti) (d. ca. 1004-7) is considered pseudo-epigraphic. The Latin translation d ates to 1256 and the court of Alphonso the Wise, king of Castille, and exerted a considerable influence on Western magic thereafter. It is said that much of Ficino’s astrological magic derives from the Picatrix (see I.P.Couliano, Eros and Magic in the Renaissance, University of Chicago Press, 1987, pRead MoreTop 1 Cause for Project Failure65023 Words   |  261 Pagesbusiness wanted. I have had the rare opportunity of always been given the kind of projects that have not been defined correctly, failing, running late etc, and the primary cause has been the above. No approved BRS. 9. [pic] Frank King, PMP Program Manager at Xiocom Wireless I agree that all of these issues contribute to a projects failure. Number 1 is the tops, followed by lack of or bad project communications and risk management. If the top executives or stakeholdersRead MoreStephen P. Robbins Timothy A. Judge (2011) Organizational Behaviour 15th Edition New Jersey: Prentice Hall393164 Words   |  1573 Pagesunderstanding how to reward, satisfy, and retain employees is at a premium. In bad times, issues like stress, decision making, and coping come to the fore. Responding to Globalization Organizations are no longer constrained by national borders. Burger King is owned by a British firm, and McDonald’s sells hamburgers in Moscow. ExxonMobil, a so-called U.S. company, receives almost 75 percent of its revenues from sales outside the United States. New employees at Finland-based phone maker Nokia are increasingly

Describe a setting in which you have collaborated Free Essays

AS you grow up you are going to meet a variety of different people. Every person you meet are not going to have the same views on life as you are . 1 came to realize that when my close friend Bianca and I disagreed on the topic going to college. We will write a custom essay sample on Describe a setting in which you have collaborated or any similar topic only for you Order Now Bianca and I have been friends since freshman year. Surprisely we never brought up the topic of college until senior year. One day I decided to start looking at colleges online to get an idea about where I wanted to go. AS I browse through colleges on College Board Bianca called me yelling and screaming about the new preview of teen wolf season 2. I was excited too but at the time I really wasn’t focus on that. I was more focus on what school I wanted to attend. I decided to ask Bianca what college she wanted to go too. To my disbelief she said she wasn’t going to college. I was astonished because she was such a smart and bright student. College also is such a big thing in my family. After high school that’s where you were expected to go. I ask Bianca why she didn’t want to go to college she replied saying because nobody in her family has ever gone to college. Everyone in her family was expected to work and most of all her family couldn’t afford it. We continue talking more and more about college. I convinced her to go because its alot of programs out there to help her to go to college almost or even free. Education is so important. It would help her to get ere dream career of becoming a nurse. As she thought about it she said she was going to take everything we talked about into consideration. At first I was astonished by the fact one of my closet friends that I known since freshman year said she wasn’t attending college. Then I came to realize that everyone comes from different backgrounds and have different views on things. In the end I convinced Bianca to attend college and education is important. This fall semester we will be roommates How to cite Describe a setting in which you have collaborated, Papers

Migraines Essay Example For Students

Migraines Essay Migraine headaches are the result of a disturbance in the neurochemistry of the central nervous system. They are relatively common, affecting three times as many women as men. Migraine sufferers typically report a definite pattern to their headaches, and they can report what stimuli bring them on. Most migraine sufferers experience their first attack before the age of 20. There is no single cause of migraines, but the tendency to get migraines does tend to run in families. When a migraine occurs, it means that something has altered several of the neurotransmitter-sensitive receptors located on the outside surface of the nerve cells (neurons) so that the nervous system is no longer able to constantly maintain the natural balance that the nervous system is intended to maintain. Neurotransmitters are chemicals that nerve cells (neurons) use to communicate messages to each other. Receptors are special areas that receive these chemical messages. The key neurotransmitter in migraine is called serotonin (often referred to in the scientific literature as 5-HT or 5-hydroxytryptophan). If something interferes with the normal functioning (production, release, receptor docking, and/or re-uptake) of serotonin, that disrupts the normal functioning of the nervous system and can lead to various symptoms associated with migraine. The severe pain associated with migraine occurs when the mechanism that normally inhibits and/or mediates pain is disabled. There is no actual tissue damage occuring during a migraine attack. Instead, the pain results from a deranged neurochemistry. Migraine pain is like a loud fire alarm bell ringing when there is no fire. Scientists suspect that a caffeine withdrawal could be the possible cause of common migraines. Why? Well, caffeine is a powerful psychoactive drug that is addictive. Caffeine withdrawals produce all the same symptoms as migraine. Chronic caffeine use causes a number of changes to the central nervous system. Caffeine use increases the number of some types of serotonin receptors and some types of adenosine receptors as well. Adenosine is another neurotransmitter; adenosine strongly inhibits serotonin release. Chronic caffeine use increases the number of adenosine receptors.(The body is trying to compensate for the constant presence of caffeine, which occupies and blockades adenosine receptors and thus interferes with adenosine reception.) When caffeine is withdrawn, however, the chronic caffeine user is left with too many adenosine receptors. Having too many adenosine receptors is equivalent to having too much adenosine. As a result, serotonin release is inhibited and this leads to migraine symptoms. As you know there are many drugs used against migraine. Many of these drugs contain caffeine, for good reason: caffeine relieves migraine by reversing caffeine withdrawal. Migraine drugs that contain caffeine include Fiorinal (40mg caffeine), Fioricet (40mg caffeine), Excedrin (65mg caffeine), Anacin (32mg caffeine), Cafergot, Norgesic Forte (60mg caffeine), and others. Sumatriptan (Imitrex) is effective in relieving migraine attacks presumably because the sumatriptan molocule mimics (is very similar to) the serotonin molocule, and thus is called a serotonin agonist (helper). Sumatriptan, in other words, makes up for the shortfall of serotonin by occupying certain types of serotonin receptors. Sumatriptan is called a selective serotonin agonist because it has a greater affinity for (sticks more to) certain types of serotonin receptors than others. Other drugs, such as Prozac, Paxil, and Zoloft, are intended for the treatment of depression but they also seem to reduce frequency and/or severity of headaches including migraine (although they are not as effective as sumatriptan against oncoming migraine attacks). These drugs are called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, which means they interfere in the reuptake of serotonin back into the interior of the nerve cells (neurons). To understand what reuptake means you need to understand that neurotransmitters, once released, must be quickly grabbed and transported back into the interior of nerve cells for reuse. That must happen to â€Å"clears the boards† for the next message. If something (like Paxil) interferes with re-uptake of serotonin, that makes more serotonin available to dock with serotonin receptors. That explains why these anti-depressant drugs help reduce migraine to a certain extent. .u17eb6bb99ab514d736f4ce7bb9b8b2ff , .u17eb6bb99ab514d736f4ce7bb9b8b2ff .postImageUrl , .u17eb6bb99ab514d736f4ce7bb9b8b2ff .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u17eb6bb99ab514d736f4ce7bb9b8b2ff , .u17eb6bb99ab514d736f4ce7bb9b8b2ff:hover , .u17eb6bb99ab514d736f4ce7bb9b8b2ff:visited , .u17eb6bb99ab514d736f4ce7bb9b8b2ff:active { border:0!important; } .u17eb6bb99ab514d736f4ce7bb9b8b2ff .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u17eb6bb99ab514d736f4ce7bb9b8b2ff { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u17eb6bb99ab514d736f4ce7bb9b8b2ff:active , .u17eb6bb99ab514d736f4ce7bb9b8b2ff:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u17eb6bb99ab514d736f4ce7bb9b8b2ff .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u17eb6bb99ab514d736f4ce7bb9b8b2ff .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u17eb6bb99ab514d736f4ce7bb9b8b2ff .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u17eb6bb99ab514d736f4ce7bb9b8b2ff .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u17eb6bb99ab514d736f4ce7bb9b8b2ff:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u17eb6bb99ab514d736f4ce7bb9b8b2ff .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u17eb6bb99ab514d736f4ce7bb9b8b2ff .u17eb6bb99ab514d736f4ce7bb9b8b2ff-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u17eb6bb99ab514d736f4ce7bb9b8b2ff:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Marketing Management Questions EssayIf caffeine withdrawal causes migraines then there is a way to end your migraines without surgery. You would have to either quit caffeine entirely or else maintain consistent daily caffeine intake. To do either you would need to be aware of all caffeine sources in food, drink, and medications. It can be done.