Abstract
I intend to reflect on three phenomena that are revealed in the personal experience of hope: (1) hope distinguishes a person from the natural context, but it does so through nature, i.e., based on desires rooted in human nature; (2) hope is not only inscribed in the existential situation of human being, but also expresses the very meaning of human transcendence: the person transcends themself, because they live the hope of fulfillment in the transcendent reality; hope is a foretaste of a higher, more perfect life; (3) hope is a person’s deeply experienced expectation of love, that is, of someone who loves. The above phenomena require a justification, which is the answer to the question “what is the reason for experiencing hope?”. Carrying out analyses on the basis of the modernized metaphysics of the person, I refer primarily to the concept of personal acts, to the concept of religiosity as an essential property of the person and to elements of the concept of love. The conclusions of these analyses indicate the necessity of accepting the real existence of the object of human hope, since personal life essentially goes beyond contingency, towards wholeness in the form of union with Someone who loves.
Highlights
The sign of our times seems to be uncertainty, which humankind experiences on a global scale and which has been greatly exacerbated by the pandemic (Seryczynska et al 2021)
This reflection was carried out concentrating on three basic aspects perceived through the prism of the personal experience of hope: (1) hope distinguishes a person from the natural context, but it does so through the mediation of nature, based on the desires rooted in human nature; (2) hope is inscribed in the existential situation of the human being and expresses the very meaning of human transcendence: the person transcends themselves because they live in hope of fulfilment in a transcendent reality; hope provides the foretaste of a better life; (3) hope is a deeply experienced longing for love, that is, for someone who loves
The synthesis of the path of hope can be expressed in three theses: (1) natural desires demand fulfilment: hope, rooted in nature, cannot be pointless; (2) life strives for its fullness, that is, it goes beyond contingency: the essence of personal acts is to go beyond contingency in search of fulfilment, and the object of human hope transcends nature; (3) the person is fulfilled through a person, which means that the object of hope lies in the personal order; it is achieved in the manner of a love relation
Summary
The sign of our times seems to be uncertainty, which humankind experiences on a global scale and which has been greatly exacerbated by the pandemic (Seryczynska et al 2021). Pieper (Bloch 1986; Marcel 2010; Ricoeur 1970; Pieper 1986). Given the importance we place on the hope experienced in such a manner, we would probably place it among the deepest aspects of humanity, for it accompanies human beings throughout their lives, especially in extremely difficult or significant times At this point, it will be necessary to adopt a few preliminary determinations of terminological and methodological nature. The very goal or object of endeavour, significant in theodical discourse, does not seem to be a direct element of hope, because, as I have mentioned, it is undefined with relation to content in the existential dimension It is an important assumption which will be extracted and analysed through reflection. The last theme leads to the formulation of a particular hypothesis, based on a specific type of relationship between hope and love
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