On the lie in hope: how hopeful do we allow ourselves to be?

• Main Author: Peh, Yee Jie
• Other Authors: Melvin Chen
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: Nanyang Technological University 2023
• Subjects: Humanities::Philosophy
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/171592
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

While many papers have discussed the nature of hope and its value, I contend that none of them have explored the basis behind our hopefulness and asked why we should trust in our sense of hope. In this paper, I explore this angle and how it affects how hopeful we feel. I will offer two formulations of my argument, one which argues that the basis of hopefulness is illusory because we think we base our hopefulness on the future when we actually base it on the present, and the other argues that hope is illusory because our expectations are not reliable predictions of the future. Lastly, I look at the potential implications of this view on hopelessness, arguing that should hopefulness be accepted to be illusory, then hopelessness should be seen similarly as well. I shall offer a suggestion for people feeling hopeless by suggesting them to disregard any sense of hopelessness and just carry on relentingly.