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Finding hope

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2020

Michael Milona*
Affiliation:
Sage School of Philosophy, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA

Abstract

This paper defends a theory of hope according to which hopes are composed of a desire and a belief that the object of the desire is possible. Although belief plus desire theories of hope are now widely rejected, this is due to important oversights. One is a failure to recognize the relation that hope-constituting desires and beliefs must stand in to constitute a hope. A second is an oversimplification of the explanatory power of hope-constituting desires. The final portion of the paper uses an enhanced understanding of the psychology of hope to make progress on normative questions about hoping well.

Type
Article
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Journal of Philosophy 2018

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Footnotes

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Current affiliation: Philosophy Department, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, USA.

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