The aim of this paper is to arouse renewed interest in the old concept of schizophrenia simplex. Jaffe describes its clinical picture, with emphasis on its primary symptoms. Clinical illustrations stress the patient's feeling of emptiness which appears as devitalization. The use of defensive maneuvers against this feeling, which are different from classical defense mechanisms, is described. Meta-psychological hypotheses which might lead to a deeper understanding of the

clinical picture and its underlying pathological process are dealt with, especially the psychoanalytic developmental hypotheses of Mahler and Freud's hypothesis of life and death instincts. An attempt is made to build a bridge between them.