ABSTRACT
Permanent submission to the authority principle, permanent greater or less intellectual dependency and limitation, are based on this first and most significant experience of authority, on the relationship between the parents and the little child. This chapter offers a new perspective on a set of questions that Melanie Klein's critics and advocates alike have found both enigmatic and troublesome: how does the infant get out of phantasy and into reality? If the premature ego is governed by an early and hyper-judgemental super-ego, how do we ever get into a position where we can make sound judgements about what we know? What does it mean to know? The fissure of authority may derive from Klein's account of love may run the risk of appearing as reactionary as they are psychically enabling. According to this quotation from Klein's early writing, the influence of authority in the development of the child is harmful from the beginning.
