Richard Rorty and the Idea of Political Hope
Liberalism as Uncertainty
Will be published approx. on 30. September 2026
Book
Hardback
290 pages
978-1-009-74995-4 (ISBN)
Description
Hope is a vital force in politics, nourishing our visions of the future when things seem irredeemably bleak. Contemporary philosophy is trapped within a view of hope as an everyday desire empty of ethical and political content. Much political theory defers to philosophy and appears unable to appreciate the value of hope as a political attitude. Through an interpretive conversation with Richard Rorty, Robert Lamb shows how Rorty uses Hegel to develop a compelling, alternative understanding of hope as the yearning for a better future amidst a contingent social world and fragile political inheritance. Commitment to political hope - an enemy of despair, optimism, and certainty - invites a reorientation of philosophical reflection and involves a demanding civic ethos to sustain communities fragmented by pathological individualism. Rorty's interpretations of John Rawls, feminism, and the redemptive potential of history show the relevance of hope for the urgent challenges facing twenty-first century liberal democracy.
Reviews / Votes
'Inspiring as it is rigorous, Robert Lamb's Richard Rorty and the Idea of Political Hope is a timely work for the darkening present. At its core stands a revelatory account of the late, oft-maligned and misunderstood pragmatist thinker, from whom Lamb reconstructs a specifically political vision of hope as a crucially collaborative social disposition. In the process, Lamb carefully traverses an extraordinary range of topics, with bracing and insightful discussions of Hegel, Rawls, Marx, feminism, liberalism, realism, justice, social truth, optimism, pessimism, curiosity, progress, utopia, love, humility, cruelty, philosophy, literature, and so much more. A wonderful book.' Loren Goldman, University of Pennsylvania 'Robert Lamb's impressive book makes a powerful and original case for hope as a distinctively political attitude and for Richard Rorty as its indispensable interpreter, showing how his thought speaks eloquently to this timely topic. Lamb provides expert critical analysis of political theories of hope, arguing for an irreducibly political concept that stands opposed not only to despair but to optimism and faith. His novel and insightful interpretations of Rorty's texts generate illuminating critical conversations with a range of contemporary political thinkers. This is a major contribution to contemporary political theory, combining deep scholarship with an impassioned commitment to the importance of hope for a fragile social world.' Matthew Festenstein, University of YorkMore details
Other editions
Additional editions
Book
approx. 09/2026
Cambridge University Press
€50.00
Not yet published
Person
Robert Lamb is Professor of Political Philosophy at the University of Exeter. He is the author of Thomas Paine and the Idea of Human Rights (Cambridge University Press, 2015) and Chair of the Britain & Ireland Association for Political Thought.
Content
Acknowledgements; Note on texts; Introduction: hope and politics; 1. Moral psychology and the depoliticization of hope; 2. Political theory and the instrumentalisation of hope; 3. Yearning for a contingent future: Richard Rorty and the idea of liberal hope; 4. Hope as political philosophy: reading Rawls with Rorty; 5. Hope and the ethos of a liberal community; 6. Hopelessness; Bibliography; Index.