After a brief introduction, where the objective and outline of this article are defined, the author comments on two fragments from Heraclites of Ephesus as the beginning of a philosophical approach to hope. The role and function of hope are them defined in the dynamics of human temporality. In the second part, the possible resonances of this philosophical perspective of hope on the question of ideals are discussed, along with the processes of mourning and melancholia, and their role in analytical treatment of those patients described as “hopeless.”
Hope; human temporality; mourning; melancholia; hopeless patients