'Krokodile hoffen nicht. Menschen hoffen.'. Bedeutung und Wert des Hoffens in der menschlichen Lebensform

摘要

Hope is a neglected topic in philosophy. This article tries to show that hope belongs to the human form of life. We start with Wittgenstein's remark that human beings hope, while crocodiles cannot and explore the nature of hoping via three different routes: Firstly, we discuss the question whether hope is an emotion or a more or less rational attitude. Secondly, we put forward five characteristics of hope: the possibility of that which is hoped for, the temporality of the object of hope, the connection of hope and action, hope and passivity, and hope's connection to language. Finally, we address the main counterarguments against the value of hope and argue that hope plays an important role in the ability to lead a human life, despite all the criticism it has received in philosophical thinking