Stage

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The term "stage" is used to designate a developmental phase that, for Freud, is characterized by a specific organization of the libido, linked to a particular erotogenic zone, and dominated by a particular modality of object relations. Some authors prefer to speak of "phases" or "positions" rather than stages, because these alternatives emphasize the fact that what are referred to here are moments in psychosexual development that partake of the dialectic of the Oedipus complex, rather than a precisely stable stage in the evolution of the libido....