Dr Sandler's observations on the existence of various imperatives which require analytic engagement are noted. His term 'unconscious peremptory urge' and his views may have some pedagogic value but they raise a conceptual problem, a clinical matter, and a theoretical issue. Conceptually, his label runs the risk of blurring certain fundamental psychoanalytic distinctive ideas; clinically, the 'equivalent' implied in his proposal may be unjustified; and theoretically, the conceptual opportunities inherent in our economic propositions appear to have been overlooked.