年终特惠 立减300元
2. The statement, “A factor in X’s personality of which we shall have to take account is his envy of his associates”, is one any layman might make and may mean little or much; its value depends on our estimate of the person who makes it and of the weight he attaches to his own words. The force of the statement is affected if I attach to the term “envy” the weight and meaning with which it has been invested by Mrs Klein.
3. Suppose now another statement: “X’s relationship with his associates is typical of a personality in which envy is a factor.” This statement expresses the observation of a function, the factors in which are transference and envy. What is observed is not the transference or envy, but something that is a function of transference and envy. It is necessary, as a psychoanalysis proceeds, to deduce new factors from the changes observed in the function and to distinguish different functions.
4. “Function” is the name for the mental activity proper to a number of factors operating in consort. “Factor” is the name for a mental activity operating in consort with other mental activities to constitute a function. Factors are deducible from observation of the functions of which they, in consort with each other, are a part. They can be theories or the realities the theories represent. They may appear to be commonplaces of ordinary insight; they are not because the word used to name the factor is employed scientifically and therefore more rigorously than is usual in conversational English. Factors are deduced not directly but by observation of functions.
5. The theory of functions makes it easier to match the realization【1】 with the deductive system【2】that represents it. Moreover, its use gives flexibility to an analytical theory, that may have to be used in a wide variety of analytical situations, without impairing the permanence and stability of the structure of which it is a part. Furthermore, by virtue of the theory of functions deductive systems possessing a high degree of generalization can be seen to represent observations in the analysis of a particular patient. Since psychoanalytic theory has to be applied to the changes occurring in the personality of the patient this is important. If the analyst observes functions and deduces the related factors from them, the gap between theory and observation can be bridged without the elaboration of new and possibly misguided theories.
6. The function I am about to discuss for its intrinsic importance also serves to illustrate the use to which a theory of functions can be put. I call this function an alpha-function 阿尔法功能 so that I may talk about it without being restricted, as I would be if I used a more meaningful term, by an existing penumbra of associations. By contrast, the meaning of theories that appear as factors must be preserved 保存 and employed as rigorously一丝不苟地 as possible. I assume that the meaning has been made sufficiently clear by the authors and others who have discussed the theories with critical sympathy. The freedom implicit in the use of the term alpha-function and the concentration of precision of expression and employment into all that pertains to the factors, confers flexibility without impairing structure. The use I make of an existing theory may seem to distort the author’s meaning; if I think so I have acknowledged it, but otherwise it is to be assumed that I believe I am interpreting the author’s theory correctly.
7. The term alpha-function is, intentionally, devoid 毫无/缺乏 of meaning. Before I indicate the area of investigation in which I propose to employ it, I must discuss one of the problems incidental to this investigation. Since the object of this meaningless term is to provide psychoanalytic investigation with a counterpart of the mathematicians variable, an unknown that can be invested with a value when its use has helped to determine what that value is, it is important that it should not be prematurely过早的/贸然的 used to convey meanings, for the premature meanings may be precisely those that it is essential to exclude. Yet the mere fact that the term alpha-function is to be employed in a particular investigation inevitably leads to its reinvestment with meanings derived from the investigations that have already been carried out in that field.【3】Constant vigilance must therefore be exerted to prevent this development, or the value of the instrument is impaired at the outset. The area of investigation is approximately that covered by the writings described in my next chapter.
