On the quest for the origins of conflict

The psychoanalytic genetic point of view was developed initially to account for choice of symptom in terms of points of regression and the conflict that developed around the expression of drives formerly not opposed. Later, clinical problems gave rise to positing an earlier and earlier anlage for conflict and symptom formation. The data on direct observation of preverbal infants and rules for validation of retrospective constructs are reviewed. The psychoanalyst's interpretation of symbols is emphasized as the most cultivated skill of our science. A restraint on genetic theory formation derives from the discontinuities in method between the task of analyzing and that of infant observation.