ABSTRACT
In a critique of Heinz Kohut's work one must be mindful of the fact that his is an unfinished 'work-in-progress.' Like Freud's, Kohut's ideas are ever-evolving, but his early death aborted his participation in that evolution. Because Kohut's ideas are evolving, one must ask, 'When, in Kohut's development, does he discuss this particular issue? Where is he in his thinking and where is he headed?' when one considers a particular idea. At the same time, one must be careful not to dismiss problems in Kohut's work with stultifying justifications such as, 'He hadn't got there yet.' Such a response closes debate, petrifies theory and further aborts the evolution of ideas. What, then, is the appropriate attitude to hold as one approaches the task of critical review? In my critique of Kohut's work I adopt the spirit Kohut suggests for the scientific endeavor:
These statements ... express my belief that the true scientist - the playful scientist as I put it before - is able to tolerate the shortcomings of his achievements - the tentativeness of his formulations, the incompleteness of his concepts. Indeed, he treasures them as the spur for further joyful excursions. . . . A worshipful attitude toward established explanatory systems ... becomes confining in the history of science -as do, indeed, man's analogous commitments in all of human history.
