ABSTRACT
The further our exposition takes us from the topic of hysteria, the less definite becomes our theoretical psychoanalytical knowledge. The theory of hysteria is corroborated daily by our clinical experience and represents a well rounded whole. On the other hand, in the theory of compulsion neuroses, there are a number of large gaps which remain to be filled by future investigations. A coherent conception of perversions will be possible only after we have formed a hypothesis that can be substantiated empirically. The two remaining provinces, psychoanalytical psychiatry and characterology, are the most recent fields of psychoanalytic study. Their exploitation is only beginning; they provide a plethora of challenging problems, yet for the time being only the naked framework of a theory can be considered as securely grounded. ,
