The History of Philosophical and Psychological Perspectives on Hope

Abstract

This chapter presents ideas from philosophers and psychologists throughout history about why scholars should study hope and how it should be defined in the science of positive human development. It uses the relational developmental systems metatheory as a framework for these ideas. Drawing from historical and contemporary philosophy and psychology, several key ingredients necessary for hope are presented: positive future expectations, agency, and trust. The chapter presents evidence from historical and philosophical perspectives on hope, including perspectives from modern and contemporary philosophy, as well as perspectives from the more recent history of hope within the psychology. The chapter then looks beyond the most common conceptions of hope. Drawing on a range of sources, but especially nursing science studies of hope in terminally ill patients, it also suggests that people can have hope not only in the present for the future but also in the present for the present.