Abstract

I contend that hope can be of significant value to individuals even as they acknowledge that there is no cure for their affliction. In particular, I argue that it is good for such patients to hope for (i) a meaningful quality of life in their remaining days and (ii) a good death. If this thesis is on target, then there is an important place for clinicians to employ the language of hope with reference to ends other than a cure. I then conclude with a few schematic comments on how the clinical aims discussed here might figure in a broader understanding of hope as a virtue.