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In a cordial introduction to this volume of papers, Ernest Jones gives a brief account of what might be described as a chapter in the history of the psychoanalytic movement in Britain. This chapter begins with the 'commotion', as Jones puts it, that was caused by the impact of Mrs. Klein's theories on a society which till then had been 'a model of coöperative harmony'. Briefly he indicates the salient features of her theories and while not underwriting every one of her conclusions it is evident that he regards the controversy as no mere frontier skirmish, for he is led to make this prophecy: 'The division in the British Society will, presently, I doubt not, be reproduced in all other psychoanalytic societies, and in the absence of colleagues with firsthand experience of Mrs. Klein's work she must expect adverse critics to be in the majority'.
In the psychoanalytic world of today it will probably take more than a book to cause a schism. In England candidates had the opportunity not only to read Mrs. Klein, but also to be analyzed and trained by her and her colleagues, and it is understandable, therefore, that such candidates should be favorably disposed to her theories. By the same token it is also understandable that those who have been trained by 'orthodox analysts' (to use a tiresome cliché) should be no less convinced of the rightness of their scientific viewpoint. From which fact one may be led to conclude that scientific objectivity is partly an illusion, and one need not be surprised that discussion of Mrs. Klein's theories tends to take