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So far I have pleaded for an extension of the psychoanalytic theory of ego development, and have attempted to show where this should begin. This extension and the concepts of ego functions that it implies (to be discussed later on) are rooted in and suggested by our present psychoanalytic conception of the ego. Clearly, such an extension could be based on a discussion of single cases or concrete situations. The advantage of the theoretical approach over the discussion of many-faceted concrete phenomena is, if nothing else, its brevity.
In what follows, I did not—and could not—attempt to pace out systematically the broad area of adaptation problems which are significant for psychoanalytic theory. Where my formulations appear one-sided or incomplete, it should be remembered that I had to make choices. The overemphasis of certain matters does not imply that I overlooked the others or that I thought them irrelevant.
The consideration of the conflict-free ego sphere leads us to the functions which are more or less closely related to the tasks of reality mastery, that is, adaptation. Now adaptation—though we do not discuss its implications frequently or thoroughly—is a central concept of psychoanalysis, because many of our problems, when pursued far enough, converge on it.