Eidelberg suggests the use of the comparative method as the available means of satisfying the demand for exact measurement if psycho-analysis would be classed as a science. Relying on Freud's work on libidinal types he attempts the application of the method to these alone, here rejecting the possibility of that quantitative comparison between different neuroses which he has since attempted. By the comparative method he hopes eventually to find answers to the following queries:

(1) Do Eros and Thanatos play quantitatively similar rôles in every neurosis, or do we always find the same values in specific neuroses? (2) Is the intensity of defence against an id impulse always in direct proportion to its quantity, or is it in different neuroses that we find a corresponding difference in the intensity of defence mechanisms? (3) Are the tendencies to activity and passivity equal in all neuroses or can a regularity of variation be found in the particular neuroses? (4) Has the pleasure or