Coping with Uncertainty: Achieving Cognitive Resolve through Self-Reinforcing Hope

Abstract

This paper, drawing upon literature from psychology and philosophy, provides a thorough analysis of hope (what it is, how we hope, etc.), as a means of furthering our understanding of cognitive resolve – a sense of mental stability and clarity that guides one's decisions and actions. Substantial hope, hope with cognitive resolve, does not fluctuate as "belief waxes and wanes with incoming evidence" (Pettit, 2014, p. 155), but instead remains aligned with an adopted assumption. While this paper focuses mainly on how cognitive resolve manifests in hope, other examples of cognitive resolve are discussed, such as cognitive resolve in precaution (which parallels hope in interesting ways). The discussion about cognitive resolve, in return, allows us to further our understanding of what hope is, what experiencing hope is like, how one comes to settle on a hopeful stance, and how hope influences motivation. I argue unwavering, substantial hope is self-reinforcing and in most cases has dispositional and motivational benefits for the person hoping.