Advertisement
Published in:
2015 | OriginalPaper | Chapter
Introduction
Activate our intelligent search to find suitable subject content or patents.
Select sections of text to find matching patents with Artificial Intelligence. powered by
Select sections of text to find additional relevant content using AI-assisted search. powered by
This book is about how institutions propagate optimism and hope. It does not itself advance optimistic visions of the future, nor does it set out to challenge contemporary pessimism.1 Much less does it seek to join the ranks of those advocating ‘positive thinking’, where pessimism is often seen as moral failure or weakness of character.2 On the other hand, it does not launch an assault, as many others have done, on the ‘ideology’ of optimism, charging those who profess it with a failure to acknowledge either the scale of human suffering or the injustices that continue to produce or exacerbate it.3 These are a well-rehearsed positions, to which little can be usefully added.