Page 112 - The Irony Board

Into the Cosmos

Take Pascal’s wager,
Stand it on its head:

See the face of hope
Turn to one of dread;

Learn how bad logic
Can have you misled

To betting your life
You’re better off dead.

Like Occam, Pascal was an intellectual enthralled by the church.
His contributions to science were made in spite of his professed
beliefs, his contributions to dogma in opposition to his
achievements in logic. His famous wager was an attempt to defend
faith by reason: if (he proposed), there is no god or indestructible
human soul, then one has lost nothing at death by one’s piety; if, on
the other hand, eternal reward or punishment does attend the
dissolution of life, then it was all worthwhile. Therefore, it is
obvious that one should bet all one has on religion: in terms of a
horse race, it’s either a sure thing or a scratch.
Gluckman’s criticism begins with reversing Pascal’s emphasis, like
Marx upending Hegel (see “Marx’s bull” in Part 3). A smile seen
upside-down transforms into a grimace; this is the image of the
wager revealed by examining the other side of the syllogism. Taking
the bet really means reversing one’s expectations of life and death.
Following the self-abnegating strictures of religion in the hope of
post-mortem salvation means living in terror of jeopardizing that
pay-off; no limit can be set to the misery one will have to endure in
order to follow the terms of the wager. The assumption that nothing
is lost by betting on theology is only validated by the unsupportable
conclusion that it is valid: circular reasoning. Gluckman repeatedly
criticize Pascal’s wager; it must have irritated him greatly.
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