ABSTRACT
In this debate concerning the relevance of infant research to psychoanalytic theory and practice, the author notices that both Andre Green and Daniel Stern have, at different points, raised the question of definition of terms, and the author too wishes to point out that some of the disagreements depend on the definition of research, others on the definition of psychoanalysis, and still others on the definition of relevance. To return now briefly to the first point, that of the definition of research: Michael Rustin's writings on this issue are very helpful. Andre Green wants to protect the spirit of psychoanalysis from the invasion of the spirit snatchers, but another way of looking at the issue is that one aspect of the spirit of psychoanalysis is research. Bion's theory of "alpha function", the function of the mind that makes thoughts thinkable, has been hugely enriched for by Stern's concept of "vitality contours".
