Call for papers

Perspectives, Postgraduate Journal of Philosophy V. 12
On Hope

Perspectives, Postgraduate Journal of Philosophy, is an annual peer-reviewed journal of philosophy edited and published by postgraduate students in the School of Philosophy, University College Dublin, Ireland. Since 2008, Perspectives has featured articles, book reviews, and interviews on a broad range of topics and approaches in philosophy and related disciplines.

The journal is published open access online, with printed copies available at little cost. The upcoming issue on The Subjective and the Objective can be accessed here, and previous issues can be accessed here.

Perspectives is now seeking submissions for the 12th issue on the theme ‘Hope’.

“Mankind has obviously reached the end of something. The crisis is absolute... Thought has abdicated. The world is rudderless. All illusions have been destroyed.”
-C.L.R. James

Climate crisis grips the globe. The rate of armed conflict has risen dramatically in recent years. Reported incidence of mental illness is increasing. More people are now displaced from their homes than ever before. Everything is on fire—nature, cities, political institutions. Humanity continues to fail and to disappoint. When the world is collapsing around us due to the mess of our own making, what is it that emerges from us to confront it? Why do we keep moving
forward toward that light of a better world? How do we orient ourselves in the darkness?

“Why did we look up for blessing—instead of around, and down? What hope we have lies there. Not in the sky full of orbiting spy-eyes and weaponry, but in the earth we have looked down upon. Not from above, but from below. Not in the light that blinds, but in the dark that nourishes, where human beings grow human souls.”
-Ursula K. LeGuin

What does hope do for belief? For motivation? For desire? For connection? What is it to be without hope? When is it acceptable to give up on it, if ever—to lay down and die? If we as humans are rational beings, what does hope say about us and our understanding of ourselves? Is hope rational? If hope lives in the sky, how do we bring it down to us? Hope has long been a subject of philosophical inquiry: from Aristotle’s virtues to Aquinas’ theology, from Kant’s practical reason to Bloch’s political and historical force. Investigations of hope have taken place across time and space, through radically different methodologies, and have been situated in radically different projects. The goal of the 2025 Call is to explore the variety of ways in which hope can be analyzed, critiqued, or integrated through different philosophical methodologies and within different philosophical disciplines or areas of study.

Submissions are welcome which develop the chosen topic within any field or style related to the theme.

We welcome high-quality, original contributions in the form of single-authored or multi-authored philosophical articles, interviews with leading scholars working on the topic, and book reviews relevant to the issue’s theme. All article submissions will be double blind peer reviewed. We are also seeking visual and textual works of art for publication in this edition of the journal.

Submission guidelines below. Deadline for submission: 15th March 2026.

Guidelines for submission:
- Articles should be between 5,000-8,000 words in length
- Articles should include an abstract of approximately 300 words, as well as a list of 5 key words
- Utilize the 18th ed. (opens in a new window)Chicago Manual of Style author-date for all references

Articles should be submitted by email to perspectives@ucd.ie as an attachment in either .docx or .pdf format with all author(s) identifying information removed from the text and metadata.

Please also attach a separate cover sheet with author(s) name(s), institutional affiliation(s), contact details, article title and preferred pronouns.

Guidelines for art submission:
- Visual artworks should be submitted as a high quality .JPEG (maximum 2,400 pixels on the long edge at 300 DPI)
- Retain a full resolution digital raw file of your artwork for your personal record in the event we need to alter the submission specifications to accommodate changes in printing
- Visual art should be accompanied by a brief description of the work relating to the theme of Hope
- Textual art should be submitted in .pdf to preserve the artist’s intended formatting of the work

Submission Guidelines for Book Reviews:
If you are interested in writing a book review, please email (opens in a new window)perspectives@ucd.ie including a brief statement of interest explaining the relevance of the book to the current theme. The book can come from any area of philosophical research or closely-related fields, so long as it makes a meaningful contribution to the academic discussion around Hope and has been published in 2019 or more recently. Reviews should be no longer than 2,000 words.

No use of generative AI is allowed for any type of submission.

Please email (opens in a new window)perspectives@ucd.ie in relation to submissions or any other queries.