The purpose of this paper is to examine two related problems. One is the influence of certain physical concepts, particularly that of entropy, on psycho-analysis. The effect of this concept on our views of the economy of human relationships is noted. The second problem is the need for new theoretical concepts regarding the economy of object relationships, based not on notions borrowed from physics, but on the operational method of psycho-analysis.

The concept of entropy has gained renewed popularity in biology, and is being invoked in attempts to clarify the nature of human mental activity and of interpersonal processes. It is