Introduction

In its understanding of human beings, psychoanalysis turns the spotlight on what is latent, towards aims and intentions underneath the manifest surface. This stance is also expressed in the listening perspective of the therapist in clinical practice. The discipline of psychoanalysis has moved into a pluralistic phase. The psychoanalytic journals are open to critical discussion and questioning of even the most central psychoanalytic concepts, such as the concepts of drives and of conflict. In the light of the history of psychoanalysis, the changes that have taken place can be regarded as being no less than a “revolution”. In the work On narcissism Sigmund Freud discusses the possibility of making his psychoanalytic theory smoother and more logically coherent by arriving at theoretical changes by means of reasoning without emphasizing observation. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.