Some reflections on the ego 1

TLDR

Freud’s evolving concept of the ego presents seemingly contradictory formulations, positioning it as both a defender against objects in narcissism and a linguistic element that can act as subject or modifier, reflecting its complex role in human behavior. Miss Anna Freud enumerated, analyzed, and defined the mechanisms by which ego functions manifest in the psyche.

Abstract

The development of Freud's views on the ego led him to two apparently contradictory formulations. The ego takes sides against the object in the theory of narcissism: the concept of libidinal economy. The structure of language gives us a clue to the function of the ego. The ego can either be the subject of the verb or qualify it. Undoubtedly every manifestation of the ego is compounded equally of good intentions and bad faith and the usual idealistic protest against the chaos of the world only betrays, inversely, the very way in which he who has a part to play in it manages to survive. It is, in fact, the earliest jealousy that sets the stage on which the triangular relationship between the ego, the object and "someone else" comes into being. Miss Anna Freud has enumerated, analysed and defined once and for all the mechanisms in which the functions of the ego take form in the psyche.