Augustine's virtue of hope and its relevance for politics

What is it about?

Against common interpretations of Augustine as one of the West's great pessimists, this article recovers Augustine's account of hope and explores its relevance for contemporary politics. In particular, Augustine offers an account of hope as a virtue that avoids vices of presumption and despair and moves us beyond the simple opposition between optimism and pessimism. Moreover, he identifies common objects of hope--namely, civic peace and civic friendship--that diverse citizens can share across boundaries of difference, which is especially important at a time when politics is so deeply divisive.

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