This paper by an English philosopher was originally presented to the British Psychoanalytic Society as the Ernest Jones Lecture for 1960. Hampshire seeks to integrate psychoanalytic theory into the philosophical view of the human mind. He uses the nontechnical concepts of 'disposition' and memory as the major links to join the two fields.

'Disposition' is used to refer to the emotions and impulses within an individual which predispose him to take some action with respect to some person. By emphasizing the ontogenetic view, the author demonstrates that a gradual process of interiorization leads to the pure instance of 'disposition' without