ABSTRACT
If a person is seduced by the expectation of pleasure into doing something which the voice of conscience has protested against, his conscience punishes him with its reproaches and makes him feel remorse for it. Another activity would be that self-observation which is the necessary preliminary to the judicial office of conscience. This function in the ego Freud calls the super-ego. Psycho-analysis has thrown a good deal of light on the formation of the super-ego and the origin of conscience. Analysis shows that the super-ego is impaired if the Oedipus complex has not been successfully overcome. But the sense of inferiority arises for the most part out of the relationship of the ego to the super-ego. The super-ego stands for all moral restrictions and for the impulse towards perfection. The recognition of the super-ego is a great help in understanding man's social behaviour and such problems as delinquency. It may perhaps provide some useful light for education.
