Exploiting Hope

We often hear stories of people in terrible and seemingly intractable situations who are preyed upon by someone offering promises of help. Frequently these cases are condemned in terms of "exploiting hope." These accusations are made in a range of contexts: human smuggling, employment relationships, unproven medical 'cures.' We hear this concept so often and in so many contexts that, with all its heavy lifting in public discourse, its actual meaning tends to losefocus. Despite its common use, it can be hard to understand precisely what is wrong about exploiting hope what can accurately be captured under this concept, and what should be done.In this book, philosopher Jeremy Snyder offers an in-depth study of hope's exploitation. First, he examines the concept in the abstract, including a close look at how this term is used in the popular press and analysis of the concepts of exploitation and hope. This theory-based section culminates in a definitive account of what it is to exploit hope, and when and why doing so is morally problematic. The second section of the book examines the particularly dangerous cases in which unprovenmedical interventions target the most vulnerable: for example, participants in clinical trials, purchasing unproven stem cell interventions, "right to try" legislation, and crowdfunding for unproven medical interventions. This book is essential reading for ethical theorists, policymakers, and health researchers, on a topic of growing visibility and importance.

Snyder does an excellent job of showing how very intertwined the concepts of hope, belief, exploitation, trust, duty, and obligation all are in practice. He has hit upon a deeply interesting and troubling issue; the insidious nature of which is doubtless spreading across many areas of life, not just those of unproven medical interventions. Not only do we get a picture of the potential reach of exploitation of hope, we also gain an account of what is so morally troubling about it without trivializing it by reducing it to concerns about consent or harms., ...Exploiting Hope should now be the go-to work for partially understanding the role hope should play on the frontiers of medical research., This book combines a compelling account of the concept of 'exploitation' with insightful analysis of the real-world challenges that occur when patients try to improve their health using unproven medical interventions. An important contribution that should be widely read by members of the bioethics and health policy communities.

Jeremy Snyder is Professor of Health Sciences at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, British Columbia, where he has taught since 2007.