Ego Psychology and the Problem of Adaptation

[From the Author’s Note] “This essay, which appeared in German some twenty years ago, is published here essentially unchanged. I still consider most of the thoughts presented in it to be valid. Some of them were developed further, reformulated, or were stated more systematically in subsequent papers. Nonetheless, I feel that a close study of historical devvelopments in psychoanalysis is still one main prerequisite for its fuller understanding. i decded therefore to have this essay published in its original form rather than to rewrite it in conformity with the present state of our knowledge. Foot notes added in this edition (indicated by brackets) will guide the reader to subsequent developments in my work of the subjects dealt with in this paper…Heinz Hartmann. March, 1958. New York.”