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The concept of perversion and the qualifier, "perverse," are descriptive in their historical origin and do not have a metapsychological basis. Recent sociomedical studies have pointed out the ideological nature of the epithet "perversion" throughout various cultures and its purpose in safeguarding the citizens of a given society. It is remarkable that conformity to customs and society is never itself placed in question as a form of behavior. The various explanations of perversity follow the values of the scientists of a society. This suggests to the authors that there is a countertransferential element in psychoanalytic judgment about perversion also. The Barandes are especially concerned with the attempt to delineate "perverse structures," for they feel that to attempt a rigorous structural point of view can only lead to the use of jargon and pseudoscientific concepts. They develop a stringent methodological critique of various studies of perversion, which are of necessity limited to "neurotics demonstrating perverse behaviors." The true perversions rarely come to analytic attention. There are ontogenetic difficulties with the concept of perversion also, for it imposes an adultomorphic (if not gerontomorphic) norm upon the history of the individual. The authors feel that Bolk's concept of evolutionary neoteny (the prolongation of immaturity, as seen in certain life forms) might have application to the libido, and in their previous work they have argued for the place of neoteny and its convergences with Freudian theory. Hence perversion makes sense as a concept only when considered ontogenetically, but this is to make the concept so broad that perversion is coextensive and coexistent with human desire. The second half of the paper deals with the evidence from other disciplines, such as ethology and animal behavior, concerning the origin of Reizhunger (stimulus hunger) and its relationship to neoteny and its implications for psychoanalysis, including the p