Dr. Katie Stockdale | University of Victoria

Title: Hope and Human Life

Abstract: There seems to be something distinctly valuable about hope in our personal and political lives. It shows up in counseling pamphlets, political campaigns, corporate branding, and activists’ speeches as what people need to achieve what they most desire and to make it through difficult times. Some philosophers have even argued that hope is essential to live a good and meaningful human life. Yet in a world in which some people have more freedom, resources, and power to affect the world, how hope is experienced varies considerably across difference. This talk brings together insights from philosophy, feminist theory, and empirical literature to explore the nature and value of hope in a world that is full of persistent and wide-reaching forms of injustice.