PROCESSIVE HOPING

The paper offers a processive reading of hoping, as such different from the usual target-driven way of understanding the disposition to hope. In this direction, the initial focus is on the ambivalence of hope considered as a sign. In particular, the double reference to the target of hope and psychological disposition are considered and compared. The alienation of the subject from the object of hope is subsequently emphasized as a general aspect of the usual interpretation of the ‘act of hoping.’ An analogy is then proposed between the morphological structure of hope, according to its traditional conceptualization, and the various theories of meaning, especially those aligned, in one way or another, by the referential paradigm. Finally, the paper draws out the implications of a processive approach to both hope and meaning by deriving some epistemological cues from the anthropological suggestions traceable in religious traditions.