K ierkegaard on the Metaphysics of Hope

This article deals with hope – and its importance – by analysing the little-known analysis of hope found in Kierkegaard. Kierkegaard presents hope as essential to moral agency, arguing that hope should never be given up, even if it is not supported by experience. This article gives an interpretation of the strong claims about the necessity of hope found in Kierkegaard which tries to reconstruct some of Kierkegaard’s central claims, arguing that Kierkegaard can be used to sketch a distinction between justified and unjustified hope.