"Abandon all hope, ye who enter here." This is the phrase written on the gates of Hell in the Inferno section of Dante’s “Divine Comedy” (1265-1321). Hope is an essential element of human life. A life without hope is like hell. In that sense, the philosophical question of what hope is to humans is fundamental.
The “Pandora’s Jar (Box)” in Hesiod’s “Theogony”, which describes the origins of the Greek gods, tells a mysterious story about “hope”. Zeus punishes Prometheus for stealing his fire and giving it to humans. He doesn’t stop there, and sends a woman named Pandora to his brother Epimetheus in order to bring disaster to humans who had become powerful through fire. Curious, Pandora opened the jar that she shouldn’t have opened, allowing all sorts of disasters to enter the world, and when Pandora, surprised, closed the jar, only 'Hope' that had not yet been released remained in the jar. What is this story telling us? Are we to be tortured by 'hope', initially a disaster? Or do you still have hope even in the midst of disaster?
The French existential philosopher Gabriel Marcel (1889-1973) argues that hope (espérance) is fundamentally different from desire (désir) or wish (souhait). Desire and wish are based on expectations of possibilities outside my being, while hope belongs to the realm of the impossible. In other words, hope is the emotional experience of existence felt under limiting circumstances and is a response to the being that makes me exist. Humans can endure even tragic and desperate situations because there is hope. Marcel paradoxically states that there is also no hope where there is no trial. He claims that our souls exist only through hope. Through trials, hope sprouts, and this hope is non-objective and non-possessive, deriving solely from 'courage for, and joy of existence'. Therefore, simply hoping allows one to continue living without giving up.
Hope is a leap beyond necessity, different from a specific basis of belief or conviction. For a person drifting in the vast sea where nothing is visible, hope is not merely a hand of salvation that may come at any time, but something that sustains and endures. Of course, it is not easy to bear the entirety of one's existence amidst trials, so we tend to rely on an absolute existence (God). Therefore, Kant (1724-1804) argues that 'hope is possible only when morality is supplemented by religion.'
The absence of hope gives rise to despair. According to Kierkegaard (1813-1855), despair arises from a 'mismatch in one's relationship with oneself.' However, even in moments of despair, one can hold onto hope by genuinely wanting to become oneself. Kierkegaard emphasizes that, to not lose hope amidst despair, one needs an absurd 'paradoxical faith', as exemplified by Abraham's faith in sacrificing Isaac.
Hope is the opposing concept to despair, but it does not mean rebellion or escape from despair. Rebellion or escape is merely another form of despair. Instead, hope is based on a firm belief that does not give up on oneself even in despair. Faith nurtures hope, and hope strengthens faith and makes it grow.
