Contemporary debates about the Freudian notion of superego are presented highlighting the importance of this notion for both psychoanalytic theory of culture and clinical work. Different versions of the relationship between superego and moral conscience, as well as between superego and ego ideal are identified, which may account for the contradictory positive and negative aspects that the superego assumes in Freudian theory. Points of convergence and divergence between Kantian categorical imperative and the superego are discussed.