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The Unlikely Comeback of Pascal’s Wager: on the Instability of Secular Post-Modernism

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Abstract

Pascal’s wager faces serious criticisms and is generally considered unconvincing. We argue that it can make a comeback powered by an unlikely ally: postmodernism. If one denies the existence of objective facts (e.g. about God or His relation to the world), then various non-theological considerations should come to the fore when considering the rationality of religious commitment and the choice of education for one’s children. In fact, we shall argue that, if one genuinely cares about one’s children, then – in many Western countries – one cannot consistently be both secular and post-modernist.

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Notes

  1. See, for instance Stackhouse 2010, p. 245 (“Strong postmodernism, finally, amounts to an antireligious secularism”); Watkin 2019.

  2. According to more radical forms of PM, even constructed facts fall prey to “logocentricism.” Those holding this view might think that Rorty is something of a sell-out, and that the fact that his theory commits no obvious fallacy is itself a symptom of his logocentricism. But thinkers who are unwilling to engage in discourse governed by logic, even as one language game among many, are perhaps beyond the pale of constructive philosophical debate. The Pascal envisioned in this paper might simply walk away from a discussion with such people.

  3. See Cargile 1966; Dalton 1975; Flew 1976; Carter, 2000a, b; Saka, 2001; Hájek, 2003.

  4. Putnam & Campbell (2010, p. 462)

  5. See recently (Antill 2020).

  6. This objection is raised by Gale (1991, p. 352)

  7. This objection was first raised by Denis Diderot (2018) in section LIX of the ‘Addition to the Philosophical Thoughts’. It was later developed by (Cargile, 1966; Dalton, 1975; Martin, 1975; Flew, 1976; Oppy, 1900; Carter, 2000a, b; Saka, 2001; Mackie, 1982, pp. 200–203).

  8. See: Office for National Statistics (2016)

  9. We don’t deny that for some people the “emigration” to a culturally distant religion might work perfectly well and make them very happy. Maybe for them such emigration would be rationally mandated.

  10. For an influential argument for this claim, see Williams (1970).

  11. Indeed, Rorty (1998, p. 87) thinks that claims about human value and claims about neutrinos are in the same boat.

  12. See Manning (2013), and for anecdotal evidence, see Glaser (2009).

  13. This is true despite the popularity of post-modern theology in some more academic religious circles, e.g.: Vanhoozer (2003), Lowe (2007), and Feldman Kaye (2019)

  14. See Snoep (2008).

  15. See Vanhoozer (2003), Lowe (2007), and Feldman (2019).

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  1. Philosophy Department, University of Haifa, Abba Khoushy Ave 199, 3498838, Haifa, Israel

    Samuel Lebens & Daniel Statman

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  1. Samuel Lebens
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Lebens, S., Statman, D. The Unlikely Comeback of Pascal’s Wager: on the Instability of Secular Post-Modernism. Philosophia 51, 337–348 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11406-021-00349-z

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