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Existential Hope
Facing Our Future When the Signs Look Bad
Brief Description
We live in an era of existential risk, facing multiple threats to the survival of our species. We also face an epidemic of existential anxiety, struggling to find meaning and purpose in a complex and dehumanising world. In such times, hope can be hard to find....
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Description
We live in an era of existential risk, facing multiple threats to the survival of our species. We also face an epidemic of existential anxiety, struggling to find meaning and purpose in a complex and dehumanising world. In such times, hope can be hard to find.
Yet, we are not alone with these problems. They have troubled people for centuries now and, with eight billion fellow human beings to work with, we can and will rise to their challenge.
In this wide-ranging exploration of humanity’s existential predicament, SJ Beard, philosopher, futurist, and pioneer of Existential Risk Studies, takes stock of why humanity got into this mess, what we have learned about ourselves, and how we can move forward in our quest for meaning, safety, and flourishing.
Ultimately, SJ argues, our future depends on breaking free from a sense of individual powerlessness to discover shared hopes, collective wisdom, and common humanity, then using them to address the many challenges we face.
Existential Hope is a compelling call to action, urging us to harness our collective strength and aspirations to build a more hopeful and sustainable future.
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9781509563043
Publisher: John Wiley and Sons Ltd
Format: Hardback
Date Published: 19 September 2025
Country: United Kingdom
Imprint: Polity Press
Audience: General / adult
DIMENSIONS
Spine width: 32.0mm
Width: 161.0mm
Height: 236.0mm
Weight: 510g
Pages: 270
About the Author
SJ Beard is Academic Programme Manager and Senior Research Associate at the Centre for the Study of Existential Risk, University of Cambridge.
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