Analysing hope : The live possibility account
(2021) In European Journal of Philosophy 29(4). p.685-698- Abstract
The orthodox definition of hope suffers from an exclusion problem: it is unable to exclude subjects without hope. In fact, the orthodox definition even allows for despair to be falsely classified as hope. This problem suggests two basic desiderata for a successful analysis of hope: it should solve the exclusion problem, and it should have the resources to explain why, in a given situation, a subject does or does not form a hope. Bearing these desiderata in mind, I assess two recent hope-accounts offered by Jack M. C. Kwong and Cheshire Calhoun. I then offer my own view, which is based on the Jamesian notion of a “live possibility”. I suggest that a possibility needs to reach a certain probability threshold in order to count as live, and... (More)
The orthodox definition of hope suffers from an exclusion problem: it is unable to exclude subjects without hope. In fact, the orthodox definition even allows for despair to be falsely classified as hope. This problem suggests two basic desiderata for a successful analysis of hope: it should solve the exclusion problem, and it should have the resources to explain why, in a given situation, a subject does or does not form a hope. Bearing these desiderata in mind, I assess two recent hope-accounts offered by Jack M. C. Kwong and Cheshire Calhoun. I then offer my own view, which is based on the Jamesian notion of a “live possibility”. I suggest that a possibility needs to reach a certain probability threshold in order to count as live, and according to my account, to hope is to desire the truth of such a live possibility. This view is well-equipped to solve the exclusion problem, and it can explain why a subject does or does not hope.
(Less)
- author
- Palmqvist, Carl Johan LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2021
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- in
- European Journal of Philosophy
- volume
- 29
- issue
- 4
- pages
- 685 - 698
- publisher
- Wiley-Blackwell
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85089452560
- ISSN
- 0966-8373
- DOI
- 10.1111/ejop.12584
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- f5ca215b-7cef-48ea-b1c4-5329f29e40d8
- date added to LUP
- 2020-08-24 13:36:08
- date last changed
- 2022-04-19 00:18:26
@article{f5ca215b-7cef-48ea-b1c4-5329f29e40d8,
abstract = {{<p>The orthodox definition of hope suffers from an exclusion problem: it is unable to exclude subjects without hope. In fact, the orthodox definition even allows for despair to be falsely classified as hope. This problem suggests two basic desiderata for a successful analysis of hope: it should solve the exclusion problem, and it should have the resources to explain why, in a given situation, a subject does or does not form a hope. Bearing these desiderata in mind, I assess two recent hope-accounts offered by Jack M. C. Kwong and Cheshire Calhoun. I then offer my own view, which is based on the Jamesian notion of a “live possibility”. I suggest that a possibility needs to reach a certain probability threshold in order to count as live, and according to my account, to hope is to desire the truth of such a live possibility. This view is well-equipped to solve the exclusion problem, and it can explain why a subject does or does not hope.</p>}},
author = {{Palmqvist, Carl Johan}},
issn = {{0966-8373}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{4}},
pages = {{685--698}},
publisher = {{Wiley-Blackwell}},
series = {{European Journal of Philosophy}},
title = {{Analysing hope : The live possibility account}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/ejop.12584}},
doi = {{10.1111/ejop.12584}},
volume = {{29}},
year = {{2021}},
}