Co jest stawką w zakładzie Pascala?

Abstract

The author draws on several literary and philosophical approaches to bring out some of the themes embedded in Pascal’s wager, such as: the world as an arena o f one’s confrontation with one’s vision o f oneself; the notions o f ‘here’ and ‘there’ in relation to the intuition o f the immortality o f the individual human soul; God as an answer to human longing for a Witness; belief in God as ultimate concern for human life; the transnatural destiny o f the human person. These existential insights are complemented by the analytical considerations and criticism o f Pascal’s wager put forward by Richard Swinbume in his book Faith and Reason (2005). Swinburne’s inquiry pivots around the problem o f a person’s responsibility for the beliefs he/she holds and what it means to be rational. The purpose o f the article is to actualize the question: What is the stake in Pascal’s wager?