Meanings
- lifestyleAn argument for theism (and specifically Christianity) maintaining that belief in the divine ensures happiness in this life and offers the possibility of eternal happiness (should God or divine beings exist), whereas atheism, even if it brings happiness in this life, offers no hope of eternal happiness and carries the risk of eternal damnation.
I have always considered "Pascal's Wager" a questionable bet to place, since any God worth believing in would prefer an honest agnostic to a calculating hypocrite.
2001 October 17, Alan Dershowitz, Letters to a Young Lawyer, New York: Basic Books, →ISBN, →OL, page 1942 more examples
In the unlikely event of losing Pascal's Wager, I intend to saunter in to Judgement Day with a bookshelf full of grievances, a flaming sword of my own devising, and a serious attitude problem.
1997 October 11, Rick Moen, “TAN: Mormons”, in rec.arts.sf.written.robert-jordan (Usenet), message-ID <61ohd0$sgr@myrddin.imat.com>Moreover, since we have now reached an extreme point in the development of consciousness, and know our own selves through and through, no 'ultimate self-doubt' remains which would allow us to ruse with death – as when, in Pascal's wager, it is the doubt about the afterlife which determines the choice.
2012, Paul de Man, “Mallarmé (1960)”, in Martin McQuillan, editor, The Post-Romantic Predicament, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, →ISBN, part II (Igitur), page 73
Origin
Named after French theologian Blaise Pascal (1623–1662), who formulated the wager in the Pensées.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Esperanto la Paskala veto
- la Paskala vetoPascal's wager
Finnish pelurin todistus, Pascalin vaaka
- pelurin todistusPascal's wager
- Pascalin vaakaPascal's wager
French le pari de Pascal
- le pari de PascalPascal's wager
German pascalsche Wette
- pascalsche WettePascal's wager
Greek στοίχημα του Πασκάλ
- στοίχημα του Πασκάλ (stoíchima tou Paskál)Pascal's wager
Hindi पास्कल का दाँव
- पास्कल का दाँव (pāskal kā dā̃v)Pascal's wager
Japanese パスカルの賭け
- パスカルの賭け (pasukaru no kake)Pascal's wager
Korean 파스칼의 내기
- 파스칼의 내기 (paseukarui naegi)Pascal's wager
Polish zakład Pascala
- zakład PascalaPascal's wager
Spanish la apuesta de Pascal
- la apuesta de PascalPascal's wager
Cite this entry
Pascal's wager. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Pascal's%20wager
“Pascal's wager.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Pascal's%20wager. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Pascal's wager,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Pascal's%20wager.
Source: Pascal's wager on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.