Chapter 3 - The Discipline of Hope

Summary

This chapter draws upon my reading of Derrida and Dionysius to develop an account of a hope that incorporates critique. I argue that, although it is difficult, it is possible to maintain the uncertain affirmation that I describe in the first two chapters through hope. Where Albert Camus claims that hope posits a confidence that distracts from life here and now, Derrida and Dionysius describe a hope that claims no assurance concerning what is to come. Rather than projecting desire onto a fantasized future, a self-critical hope energizes efforts to improve the present. In my view, hope is a practice, not the conclusion of a proof; it depends upon decision, which inevitably goes beyond the evidence. For this reason, it cannot guarantee a good result, but that does not mean that it must be abandoned. On the contrary, hope is a resolute desire that endures vulnerability.