Radical Hope | Jonathan Lear

Shortly before he died, Plenty Coups, the last great Chief of the Crow Nation, told his story - up to a certain point. "When the buffalo went away the hearts of my people fell to the ground, " he said, "and they could not lift them up again. After this nothing happened. " It is precisely this point - that of a people faced with the end of their way of life - that prompts the philosophical and ethical inquiry pursued in "Radical Hope". In Jonathan Lear's view, Plenty Coups' story raises a profound ethical question that transcends his time and challenges us all: how should one face the possibility that one's culture might collapse?