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Conclude this issue of psychoanalytic inquiry by thanking all the authors for the earnest consideration they gave to our initial question about the relevance of the superego concept or of some equivalent notion. Their replies remind me of a Talmud story in which Rabbi Yochanan is inconsolable over the loss of his brother-in-law, Resh Laqish, whom he mortally offended, “When I would say something, the son of Laqish would raise twenty-four objections against me, and I would give him twenty-four answers, and the statement would thereby be clarified … Where are you, son of Laqish? Where are you, son of Laqish?” (Bava Metzia 84b). Many questions have been raised, many answers have been given. Together, they allow us to get closer to what gives meaning and order in the wide world of the soul.
“You will not find the borders of the soul on whatever path you may wander, such deep meaning she (psyché) has,” Heraclitus said. Yet, our concepts, our metaphors, our structures allow us to walk on these hidden paths. Not only do they help us understand ourselves better, but they allow us to engage more meaningfully in dialogue with others and, most important, to help desperately suffering individuals at the time of their greatest need. I hope our debate about the superego and its referents will provide some useful road signs.