Kaufman suggests that neurosis, rather than being the price of our becoming civilized as Freud said, is responsible for our remaining uncivilized. The destructive part of neurosis is that it precipitates "premature internalizations." Kaufman compares the Akedah (the biblical account of Abraham's binding of Isaac for sacrifice) and the Oedipus legends. The Akedah is unique in that neither child nor parent is killed. Kaufman also shows how Mahler's rapprochement stage of development is similar to the crisis over the disappointment with father imago. He emphasizes that although it is not sufficiently talked about, it is very important to be aware of the child's discovering the parent's own conscience, which helps in the differentiation of the self from the object. In his conclusion and at points throughout the article Kaufman seems to be paraphrasing some of Kohut's theories on narcissism; he seems to be saying that the best way to get along is by stronger and stronger identifications with morality and with moral figures.