For the most part, the world is made up of optimists and pessimists—and sprinkled with a healthy dose of realists in between. In general, optimists expect good things to happen, and pessimists expect ...

This post is a review of Hopeful Pessimism. By Mara Van Der Lugt. Princeton University Press. 255 pp. $24.95. In an episode of The Simpsons called “The Good, the Sad, and the Drugly,” Lisa gives a ...