We have presented a critical overview of the concept of psychic energy. We have traced the development of this concept and have surveyed its major aspects, involving the source, functions and operating principles of psychic energy. The expected function of a theory and the general criteria by which it is evaluated have been examined, and the failures of psychic energy theory in various methodological and clinical areas have been noted. We have recommended abandonment of the concept, and have suggested alterations in the psychoanalytic paradigm involving information theory, learning, concept and symbol formation, and current neurophysiological data.

It should be made clear once more that, in proposing an alternative theoretical framework to replace the psychic energy concept, we are still advocating a primarily psychological model, not a neurophysiological one. Such a model, to have heuristic validity and to avoid the dead end of mind–body dualism, must be translatable at some point into neurophysiological terms.