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This important paper reviews the terms autoerotism and narcissism from a historical perspective in the light of Freud's evolving constructs. Kanzer points out that the term autoerotism has always referred to sensual pleasure derived from one's body. The term narcissism 'in conjunction with the development of ego concept has … implied an attitude of love toward the self … in which the sexual aims have been delibidinized and at least a rudimentary self-image has been formed'. Both terms were further clarified with the delineation of the self-concept.
Kanzer suggests that autoerotism can be understood in terms of the pleasurable experiences for the ego derived from somatic sensations associated with the direct discharge of drive energy—a pleasure obtained from one's own body in the absence of another object. It may be specifically defined in terms of the particular source of the pleasure; e.g., oral or phallic.
Narcissism is no longer viewed as an advanced autoerotic organization of libido but part of the ego organization that functions with the onset of mental life, and encompasses 'the pleasurable feelings of identity between the self-image and the ego ideal associated with the discharge of neutral energy'. Primary narcissism may be referred to as an ego cathexis or self-cathexis depending on whether 'reference is made to the ego system or self-image'.