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Pascal's wager inverted

example · Althusser / Pascal · retold in 4 talks
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Althusser cites Pascal: if you believe in God that's your problem, but just act as if you believe. The lesson: ideology functions through practice, not inner conviction. Žižek found this invaluable in Yugoslavia.

2005: 1 talk 2011: 1 talk 2017: 1 talk 2018: 1 talk
≤2000talks it is told in, per year2026

As told 4

“If you believe in God that's your problem, but you must just do as if you believe in God”
23:30 Interview at the Book Fair Leipzig2018-03-17 · 49:43
“'Do you believe too much? Act as if you believe and you will no longer have to believe, rituals will do it for you.'”
~0:00 The Limits of Hegel: Rabble, War, Sex and Marriage2011-05-12 · 1:23:07
“kneel down and you will make another belief. another agency or whatever, belief for you.”
52:57 Versus Cornel West2005-11-10 · 2:18:10

What it carries

one story, many jobs: the ideas this anecdote is deployed to argue, one tally mark per use (an idea page shows the same relation from the other end, as its shelf of stories)

contents · one story, 2 jobsuses
subject supposed to believe ×2 ideology as articulation ×1

Its cast and sources

populated by
E.T.A. Hoffmann1Taylor Sheridan1Wolfgang Fritz Haug1Konrad Wolf1Brigitte Reimann1Robert Solomon1Markus Gabriel1Ted Chiang1
alongside works
Blade Runner 20492Grundlinien der Philosophie des Rechts (Philosophy of Right)2Treatise on the Essence of Human Freedom (Schelling, 1809)1Žižek's book on violence (German edition)1Philosophie des Geistes (Philosophy of Spirit/Mind)1Kritik der Hegelschen Rechtsphilosophie (Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of Right)1Der achtzehnte Brumaire des Louis Bonaparte (The Eighteenth Brumaire)1Vorlesungen über die Geschichte der Philosophie (Lectures on the History of Philosophy)1

Every retelling 4

23:30 Interview at the Book Fair Leipzig2018-03-17 · 49:43
Althusser cites Pascal: if you believe in God that's your problem, but just act as if you believe. The lesson: ideology functions through practice, not inner conviction. Žižek found this invaluable in Yugoslavia., illustrating ideologische Staatsapparaten,ideology as part of gesellschaftliche Sein
~0:00 The Limits of Hegel: Rabble, War, Sex and Marriage2011-05-12 · 1:23:07
Pascal says 'act as if you believe and belief will come'; Žižek argues the Church's real wisdom is the opposite: if you believe too much you become a dangerous Gnostic or fanatic; better to let ritual do the believing for you and not believe too intensely yourself., illustrating ideology,ritual vs. belief,materialist inversion
52:57 Versus Cornel West2005-11-10 · 2:18:10
Pascal said: kneel down and pray and belief will come. Žižek inverts: kneel down and you don't come to believe yourself, you outsource belief to the ritual, which now believes for you., illustrating objectified belief,belief without belief
2:03:29 Moebius Strip, Cross Cap, Klein Bottle: The Twisted Space of Subjectivity2017-10-20 · 2:30:44
Žižek reverses the usual Pascalian lesson (act as if you believe and belief will come): if you already truly believe, you should externalize it in ritual so you don't have to constantly believe, ritual provides a minimal distance and liberates you from obsessive inner belief., illustrating displaced belief,empty ritual,ideology