Concerning Remorse: With Special Attention to its Defensive Function

Remorse is that particular experience which follows the harming of one who is loved as well as hated. The sense of remorse that resulted from the ambivalent feelings of the “primal horde” toward the deposed and devoured father were emphasized by Freud in Totem and Taboo:

After they got rid of him, had satisfied their hatred and had put into effect their wish to identify themselves with him, the affection which had all this time been pushed under was bound to make itself felt. It did so in the form of remorse. A sense of guilt made its appearance, which in this instance coincided with the remorse felt by the whole group [Freud, 1913, p. 143].

The notion of the “primal killing” is highly speculative, of course, although this formulation does call attention to the process of oral incorporation. Some etymological research indicates the special appropriateness of the term “remorse” for describing reactions of gnawing guilt for the deed of primal cannibalism: its Latin root is remorsus, meaning “to bite again.” The word “morsel,” a small piece of food, shares the same root. The affectionate and aggressive components of oral incorporation thus both may be seen to be operative during a state of remorse. Some of the difficulties of