Hope, Trust, and Forgiveness: Essays in Finitude

A new ethics of human finitude developed through three experimental essays.

As ethical beings, we strive for lives that are meaningful and praiseworthy. But we are finite. We do not know, so we hope. We need, so we trust. We err, so we forgive. In this book, philosopher John T. Lysaker draws our attention to the ways in which these three capacities-hope, trust, and forgiveness-contend with human limits. Each experience is vital to human flourishing, yet each also poses significant personal and institutional challenges as well as opportunities for growth. Hope, Trust, and Forgiveness explores these challenges and opportunities and proposes ways to best meet them. In so doing, Lysaker experiments with the essay as a form and advances an improvisational perfectionism to deepen and expand our ethical horizons.


About the Author
John T. Lysaker is the William R. Kenan Professor of Philosophy at Emory University. He is the author of many books, including Philosophy, Writing, and the Character of Thought, also published by the University of Chicago Press.