Must we ascribe hope for better times to those who (take themselves to) act morally? Kant and later theorists in the Frankfurt School tradition thought we must. In this article, I disclose that it is possible – and ethical – to refrain from ascribing hope in all such cases. I draw on two key examples of acting irrespective of hope: one from a recent political context and one from the life of Jean Améry. I also suggest that, once we see that it is possible to make sense of (what I call) ‘merely expressive acts’, we can also see that the early Frankfurt School was not guilty of a performative contradiction in seeking to enlighten Enlightenment about its (self-)destructive tendencies, while rejecting the (providential) idea of progress.

中文翻译：

---

不顾希望的行动

我们是否必须将美好时代的希望归功于那些（自食其力）道德行为的人？康德和后来法兰克福学派传统的理论家认为我们必须这样做。在这篇文章中，我透露，在所有此类情况下，避免寄希望于一切是可能的——而且是合乎道德的。我举了两个不顾希望行事的关键例子：一个来自最近的政治背景，另一个来自让·阿梅里的生活。我还建议，一旦我们看到有可能理解（我所说的）“纯粹的表现行为”，我们也可以看到早期的法兰克福学派是不是在寻求启蒙启蒙关于其（自我）破坏倾向的启蒙运动，同时拒绝进步的（天意的）观念时，犯了表演上的矛盾。