Chapter 4: Moving Towards the Future: Horizons of Self-Projection in Face of Near Finitude

Time is a core topic in scientific Psychology and it is especially important within developmental psychology. Nevertheless, there is no one consensual definition of time in psychology, nor a well-agreed philosophical perspective that explains the relation of complex psychological phenomena and the many dimensions related to the effects of time passing upon psychological functioning. Normative psychology has usually payed more attention to past events and its role on present developmental outcomes than it pays to future ones. Nevertheless, projecting one’s self to the future is a core part of a healthy psychological functioning; moreover, anticipating the future has to do not only with constructing expectations and perspectives, but also with generating a semiotic frame for future trajectories. In this paper we explore different perspectives on time and temporality and search for a support to arguments on time and human development from the analysis of a counterexample based on empirical data in which the person, with a chronic disease, has dealt along life with the phantom of the near death. The results of this study are then elaborated as the basis for the construction of a general model in the interpretation of the role of future-oriented human developmental processes.