Abstract
In this article I wish to defend hope by arguing that it is a child-like predisposition and that its strength and uniqueness stem exactly from its naïve, infantilizing character. To discuss the concepts of hope and of childhood and the relationship between them, I read in Kazuo Ishiguro’s latest book – Klara and the Sun (2021), using Lyotard’s concepts of the inhuman, development, and infancy (1991, 1998). I argue for an alternative approach to childhood, in which it is not viewed merely as a basic developmental phase or as a lack in maturity but as an irreducible and potent element in human life, further showing that when understood as an event, childhood can be a strong basis for hope, and as such should be recognized by educators.
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Notes
In this essay I intentionally refrain from discussing historical accounts of the concept of ‘childhood.’ While there is a vast body of literature on this important topic (Aries 1960; Fass 2013), I follow here Lyotard’s approach to infancy and childhood that is largely ahistorical and ignores specific temporal expressions of the phenomenon.
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Zipory, O. Hope and Resistance in Lyotard’s Concept of Infancy. Stud Philos Educ 42, 247–259 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11217-023-09872-w
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11217-023-09872-w