In search of the lost future: Ernst Bloch, history and the subterranean “tradition of hope”

Abstract

Known in the western thought’s history as a "philosopher of hope," Ernst Bloch (1885-1977) still seems to be underestimated among historians. From brief remarks on the life and intellectual production of this thinker, this article aims to open perspectives in terms of a more accurate study on his understanding of history. This attempt is performed regarding the hypothesis that a return to Bloch and a reassessment of his ideas in the beginning of this century may perhaps offer us the possibility of a theoretical alternative to the historical moment of crisis in which we live – marked by an urged and lost historicity between a past that no longer exists and a future far from becoming true.