The Quest for Conscience and the Birth of the Mind examines conscience as an as-yet-unrealized human potential, but a potential toward which human beings are naturally driven. A ’Äúmature conscience’Äù, dependent on the development of an authentic self, is distinguished from classical ideas of the superego, postulating that the two may represent two separate lines of development. The more primitive superego is seen as an often pathological manifestation of this natural mental potential, while the development of a mature conscience is seen to have its foundation in the development of a true self. Detailed clinical material illustrates these ideas.

’Äì Bion’Äôs ideas regarding the relationship between religious thought and a scientific perspective,
  and its relevance to psychoanalytic work
’Äì Freud’Äôs and Bion’Äôs perspectives on religion are examined, revealing fundamental differences in
  their views of the mind
’Äì Obstacles to the development of a healthy conscience