Abstract

The subjective, intersubjective, and mystical or theological dimensions of hope have puzzled philosophers for centuries. Nevertheless, hope rarely seems to be the central matter. The inclination is rather to judge it morally, as positive or negative, and then nourish previously taken metaphysical stances with the writings emerging from these positions. In Husserlian phenomenology and discourses derived from it that tend to be less judgmental and more descriptive, hope is studied as a complex intentional act engaging consciousness of time, affectivity, and alterity, to later be compared to similar intentional modalities, like protention, desire and expectation. In this article, I propose to focus on intersubjectivity, by drafting a social phenomenology of hope.