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Hope

In: A Lexicon of Social Well-Being

Author

Listed:
  • Luigino Bruni

Abstract

Our civilization faces a scarcity of an important resource: hope. Hope is certainly a virtue, but behind this great word there are many concealed aspects, some greater and some lesser than the virtue itself. Like any ancient and noble word, hope is like those stratified cities that over the centuries have witnessed many lives and different civilizations. There is, in fact, a first layer of hope — which shows instantly because it is very superficial — that is not a virtue, but a vice. This first layer is the hope that Greek mythology placed in Pandora’s Box, the jar that contained all the spirits of evil, and that, mysteriously and ambiguously, did not escape from it along with the other evils to flood the world, but remained trapped in the vessel. This is what St. Paul called “vain” hope. It is often used by the powerful to invite people to hope for an imaginary economic boom and a better future while they do nothing, or too little, to improve the living conditions of the present. This is the hope of winning the lottery or scratch-off cards. It is also the attitude of those who, when faced with a problem, say: “Let’s hope for the best.”

Suggested Citation

  • Luigino Bruni, 2015. "Hope," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: A Lexicon of Social Well-Being, pages 68-71, Palgrave Macmillan.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:palchp:978-1-137-52888-9_19
    DOI: 10.1057/9781137528889_19
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