Perry and Brownlee on The Socially Fragile Power of Hope

Matthew W. Perry and Kimberley Brownlee, both of the University of British Columbia Department of Philosophy, have published The Socially Fragile Power of Hope as LSE Legal Studies Working Paper No. 40/2025.

What role, if any, does hope play in the law? Recent jurisprudence has seen a growing interest in the right to hope. This paper makes three contributions to this emerging debate. First, a philosophically adequate account of hope must centre its affective character. While hope involves cognitive resolve, it is not chiefly cognitive-it is affective at its heart. Second, although a person cannot have an explicit right to hope, people can have rights to the social conditions which make hope possible. Sustained hope for the future depends on the experience of social recognition and belonging, rooted in early childhood development and belonging to community throughout our lives. Finally, four guiding aims should shape a commitment to structure penal practices in ways that allow individuals to retain a credible sense of hope.

Download the paper from SSRN at the link.