Constructing the infantile

This paper addresses three dimensions that contribute to the constructions of the infantile, as they inform different psychoanalytic perspectives: the infantile body; the infantile mind; and the infantile psyche. Brief reviews of our current knowledge of the infant's physical state and earliest mention, derived from observational and experimental methodologies are presented; raising the question whether psychoanalysts should incorporate such knowledge or rely solely on clinical data. Further, the sources in Freudian texts that legitimate reconstructions of the infantile psyche are examined, while also noting theorists who have chosen alternate approaches. The paper concludes with the assertion that the dimensions which are determined as most germane to a psychoanalyst's construction of the infantile will depend ultimately upon their usefulness in establishing intersubjectivity with patients in clinical practice.