Chapter VII. A Synopsis of the Development of the Author's Views Regarding the Structure of the Personality (1951)

In 1941 (A Revised Psychopathology of the Psychoses and Psychoneuroses) I recorded the observation that evidence of splitting of the ego was to be found not only in overtly schizoid states, but also in the psychoneuroses, and indeed in psychopathological conditions generally. The data upon which this observation was founded also led me to question the validity of Freud's libido theory in respect of (1) his thesis that libido is essentially pleasure-seeking, and (2) the significance which he attributed to erotogenic zones in determining ego-development. It followed inevitably that I should also question the validity of Abraham's ‘phase’ theory of ego-development and the etiological theory based upon it. I accordingly attempted to reformulate these basic psychoanalytical concepts (the libido theory, the theory of ego-development and the etiological theory) in such a way as to bring them more into conformity with observed clinical data and so to enhance their explanatory value. The main features of my reformulation were to the following effect:

1. Libido is essentially object-seeking;

2. Erotogenic zones are not themselves primary determinants of libidinal aims, but channels mediating the primary object-seeking aims of the ego;

3. Any theory of ego-development that is to be satisfactory must be conceived in terms of relationships with objects, and in particular relationships with objects which have been internalized during early life under the pressure of deprivation and frustration;

4. What are described by Abraham as ‘phases’ are, with the exception of his ‘oral phases’, really techniques employed by the ego for

   Page 162

   regulating relationships with objects, and in particular with internalized objects;

5. The psychopathological conditions ascribed by Abraham to fixations at specific phases are, with the exception of schizophrenia and depression, really conditions associated with the employment of specific techniques.

In the light of these considerations I proceeded to outline a theory of ego-