ABSTRACT
Sigmund Freud mentions three circumstances under which the Oedipus complex can be destroyed. Freud's first argument is not consistent with his idea that the oedipal constellation is not dissolved in phylogenesis but is repressed and reappears, for instance, in the development of religion. His second argument stands in contradiction to his phylogenetic postulate that the origin of the Oedipus complex is due to the primal father causing the sons' frustration. Freud's third argument is at odds with other considerations. If ontogenesis recapitulates phylogenesis, it is hardly possible that in ontogenesis the Oedipus complex is resolved by the same kind of experiences that have caused this complex in phylogenesis. Also, this argument is not compatible with Freud's concept of fixation. They do not become “asocial” as Freud terms symptom neuroses, but remain social in that they join with others in “usual group formations".
