ABSTRACT
We are not born with a self. However, the I, or the ego, is neurophysiologically given. At birth we have a rudimentary ego, which matures as the central nervous system matures. The self is merely a possibility, a potentiality that will arise through an appropriate engagement of the child as ``I'' with the mother and other caregivers. The nature of this engagement must be the starting point of an attempt to understand how self develops.
