Atheist's wager explained

The Atheist's wager, coined by the philosopher Michael Martin and published in his 1990 book Atheism: A Philosophical Justification, is an atheistic response to Pascal's wager regarding the existence of God.[1]

One version of the Atheist's wager suggests that since a kind and loving god would reward good deeds – and that if no gods exist, good deeds would still leave a positive legacy – one should live a good life without religion.[2] [3] Another formulation suggests that a god may reward honest disbelief and punish a dishonest belief in the divine.[4]

Explanation

Martin's wager states that if one were to analyze their options in regard to how to live their life, they would arrive at the following possibilities:[5]

The following table shows the values assigned to each possible outcome:

A benevolent god existsNo benevolent god exists
Belief in god (B)No belief in god (¬B)Belief in god (B)No belief in god (¬B)
Good life (L)+∞ (heaven)+∞ (heaven)+X (positive legacy)+X (positive legacy)
Evil life (¬L)−∞ (hell)−∞ (hell)−X (negative legacy)−X (negative legacy)

Given these values, Martin argues that the option to live a good life clearly dominates the option of living an evil life, regardless of belief in a god. Whether one believes in god has no effect on the outcome.

Notes and References

  1. Book: Oppy, Graham . . 2019 . 978-1-119-11918-0 . First . 221.
  2. Book: Martin, Michael . Atheism: A Philosophical Justification . . 1990 . 978-0-8772-2642-0 . 232–238 . registration.
  3. Book: Berry . So What If...the God of the Bible Exists...Does It Really Matter at the End ... . Dog Ear Publishing . 2011 . 978-1-457-50020-6 . 10.
  4. Book: Stahl . Atheism: A Beginner's Handbook: All You Wanted to Know About Atheism and Why . 2007 . 978-0-5954-2737-6 . 39–42 . iUniverse . registration.
  5. Martin . Michael . 1983 . Pascal's Wager as an Argument for Not Believing in God . Religious Studies . 19 . 57–64 . 10.1017/S0034412500014700 . 170450896.