ABSTRACT
In their discussion of the psychoanalytic notion of sublimation, Laplanche and Pontalis note that “the lack of a coherent theory of sublimation remains one of the lacunae in psychoanalytic thought” (1967, p. 433). Earlier, Hartmann had stated: “Despite the broad and general use made by analysts of the concept of sublimation and despite many attempts to free it from ambiguities, there is no doubt that a certain amount of discontent with some of its facets is rather common among us” (1955, p. 10). In an earlier generation, Glover expressed his discontent with the ambiguity of sublimation: “It is generally agreed that prior to 1923 a good deal of confusion existed regarding the exact nature of sublimation. Since then it has increased rather than diminished” (1931, p. 263).
