Le futur intérieur : l'énigmatique du surmoi

Abstract

From a reading of Loewald's Superego and time, the author expands on the role and place of the future in psychic life with regards to four aspects of superego functioning, especially the one aspect less elaborated by Freud, the benevolent superego. That aspect is discussed in its interaction with the ego within the frame of anticipation and expectation. Two different phases of a clinical case, presented along the lines of moral masochism, emphasize the relevance of the matter for the clinician, especially the distortion of future by superego regression.