We are pleased to announce that on Friday, November 10 at 16:30 (CET), Olivier Massin (University of Neuchatel) will give the talk What is Optimism? as part of the Lugano Philosophy Colloquia Fall 2023 organised by the Institute of Philosophy (ISFI) at USI. This hybrid talk will take place in the Multiuso room, Theology Building, USI West Campus and online via Zoom. If you are interested in joining it online, please write to events.isfi(a)usi.ch For more information: https://www.usi.ch/en/feeds/25721 Here is the abstract of the talk: To be optimistic, it is standardly assumed, is to have positive expectations. I here argue that this definition is correct but captures only one variety of optimism – here called factual optimism. It leaves out two other important varieties of optimism. The first – focal optimism – corresponds to the idea of seeing the glass half full. The second – axiological optimism – consists in the conviction that good is stronger than bad. Those three varieties of optimism are irreducible to each other and do not belong to a common kind, but exhibit essential connections I shall try to bring out.