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In this concise, thoughtful paper, Downey—proceeding from some ideas of Loewald—points out that our idea of the id is vague, pejorative, and rather unhelpful. He
suggests the term "subego." This structure, in contrast to "the id," arises in the infant's interaction with the mother and others. It serves the function of awareness of the self and the outside world. Downey presents a persuasive argument that his suggestion offers a more useful concept than that of "the id."