RE: Pascal's Wager Revisited
April 10, 2015 at 3:24 pm
(This post was last modified: April 10, 2015 at 3:25 pm by Mr.wizard.)
(April 10, 2015 at 3:09 pm)datc Wrote:(April 10, 2015 at 2:54 pm)robvalue Wrote: So... is it being suggested we pretend to believe in an afterlife, so that... we get a better afterlife?
This makes no sense to me.
You don't pretend to believe; you already actually believe or disbelief in the very process of living one way or another; your actions on Pascal's wager speak louder than words.
If you aim your actions on attaining eternal life, even if you are not sure there is one, then you end up becoming fit for it and are in the end pleasantly surprised that what you were doing turned out to have been useful.
If you concern yourself with temporal life only, and there is eternal life, then your failure to prepare yourself for it will result in disappointment.
It's up to you personally, of course, to evaluate the costs and benefits; I only point out that there are costs and benefits, and the evaluation (by the agnostic) must be attempted in practice if not speculatively, again within the assumptions of the argument.
Well what's the criteria for attaining eternal life? If I don't know that it exists how can I be sure what I am doing is leading me to eternal life?
