patricia scott (asker) May 28, 2009:

the ego vs the I Thank you Kathryn, it helps to clarify things even further. I had come across "the I" in another context. Thanks.
In this case, it is a caption under the photo of two children - for a website.

I'd like to thank all of you for your help.

Kathryn Litherland May 28, 2009:

"the ego" vs. "the I" Just as a point of reference, a central concept in German idealist philosophy (from Kant through Hegel, and points in-between) is that of "das Ich", which is often translated in quite authoritative editions and analyses as "the I" (as well as "the self," or "the ego") in English and "el yo" in Spanish.

The Freudian concept rendered in Latinized English as "the ego" is likewise "das Ich" in the original texts.

I agree here that ego is better, as this does not seem to be a sophisticated academic text on either philosophy or Freudian psychology. But (a) I would be cautious about statements on the order of "yos must be translated as Ego." There are contexts where it is quite appropriate to use the phrase "the I" or "the self."