Discussion Of Panel Presentations On Psychic Structure

My reading of Freud's works shows that he founded his structural theory on the energic aspects of his theories of dreams and drives, and that he never did and, for systematic reasons, never could give up this foundation. Transformations of primary-process functioning are intrinsic to all psychological development. My reading of the panel papers on psychic structure, as originally presented, shows that current usage often departs significantly from Freud's structural-energic propositions and that these propositions no longer strictly control psychoanalytic theorizing and research. In what seems to be a shift toward minimalism in theoretical formulation, modern structural theory is increasingly situated in a different conception of explanation; for example, there is less or no concern with how basic human tendencies are possible in the first place. Emphasis now tends to fall on the development, organization, and function of stable psychic organizations. Especially to be explained are developments in sel-experience, object relations, and adaptation. This theoretical shift is then linked to cultural changes favoring emphasis on process as against entity, subjective experience, individualistic theory construction, and rejection of sharp demarcation of the boundary between the observer and the observed. Examples of these changes are discussed briefly.