In the 17th century, Blaise Pascal provided a purely practical argument for theism with his famous "wager."  The most basic form of the argument can be understood as follows.  Suppose one believes in God.  This choice includes the loss of certain earthly goods, for instance, time and resources devoted to spiritual matters instead of oneself.  If God does not exist, these goods are lost unnecessarily, but if God does exist, one gains eternal happiness in the afterlife.  On the other hand, by not choosing to believe in God, one gains those earthly goods.  If God does not exist, one loses nothing, but if God does exist, one loses eternal happiness.  Pascal's Wager, then, is essentially a risk/reward analysis.  Believing in God involves a finite loss but may result in an infinite gain, whereas not believing in God risks an infinite loss for the sake of a finite gain.  Therefore, Pascal argues, choosing to believe in God is the only rational decision to make in terms of one's own self-interest.This argument elicits several objections, the most immediate of which relate to the nature of belief.  First, there is clearly a difference between truly believing in God versus choosing to believe for the sake of a hoped-for reward.  Hence, many critics have viewed the Wager as essentially cynical—not to mention the fact that if God does exist, he would presumably not be fooled by "belief" deriving from such mercenary motivations.  Even setting such concerns aside, however, the more important problem is that, put simply, belief doesn't work that way.  One cannot just will oneself to believe a proposition apart from some kind of evidence.  Rather, we accept or reject claims according to whether they match our experience of the world.  Sometimes this process is overt, drawing a conclusion based on an explicit chain of reasoning.  More often it is basically automatic or subconscious, arising from what is immediately apparent to perception and memory.  Thus, we might imagine someone who wants to believe in God for any number of reasons.  She may be concerned about eternal consequences, or view her religious acquaintances as morally admirable, or perhaps long for the kind of community shared by some persons of faith.  Regardless of the reasons for her wish to believe, belief is not a matter of choice; she cannot make herself believe in God or anything else.  Hence, a prescription to believe would seem to be pointless, even if one accepts that believing would represent the most rational, self-interested decision.However, as compelling as those objections might appear, it is easy to overlook the fact that Pascal was well aware of them, and actually raised such worries himself.  Notably, he does not treat choosing to believe in God as a discrete event, but as a process that unfolds throughout one's life.  Thus, Pascal offers advice for those who struggle with their inability to believe: "Learn of those who have been bound like you…who know the way which you would follow, and who are cured of an ill of which you would be cured.  Follow the way by which they began; by acting as if they believed, taking the holy water, having mass said, etc.  Even this will naturally make you believe...."  In this way, Pascal implies that by practicing religion and engaging in its rituals one may eventually grow to develop real faith, a phenomenon that he suggests is valuable in its own right because it gives one's life meaning and purpose.  As such, Pascal's Wager need not be seen as either cynical or impossible, but as an attempt to open a genuine path to theism.Passage Title: Pascal's Wager Question 21Which of the following decisions in a woman's life would be most similar to the way Pascal's Wager is described in Paragraph 3?A.The woman accepts a man's marriage proposal even though she is unsure of her feelings, hoping that over time she will fall in love with her fiancé.B.The woman chooses a college major even though she is unsure her parents will approve, hoping that over time they will support her decision.C.The woman auditions for parts in movies even though she is unsure she will be cast, hoping that over time she will land a breakout role.D.The woman sticks with a new job even though she is unsure she enjoys it, hoping that over time it will turn into a stable career.Submit