Death drive
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In classical psychoanalysis, the death drive (German: Todestrieb) is an aspect of libidinal energy that seeks "to lead organic life back into the inanimate state."[1] For Sigmund Freud, it "express[es] itself—though probably only in part—as a drive of destruction directed against the external world and other organisms",[2] for example, in the behaviour of predation. It complements the life drive, which encompasses self-preservation and reproduction behaviours such as nutrition and sexuality. Both aspects of libido form the common basis of Freud's dual drive theory.
The death drive is not only expressed through instinctive aggression, such as hunting for nourishment, but also through pathological behaviour such as repetition compulsion, and self-destructiveness.[3][4][5]
Freud proposed the concept of the death and life drives in his work Beyond the Pleasure Principle in 1920. It was developed to solve problems arising from the distinction between the pleasure principle of the id and the reality principle of the ego, with which he was still unable to explain seemingly meaningless or even self-destructive phenomena like recurring dreams of veterans that constantly remind of their war injuries. Freud also proposes that redirection of the death instinct outwards is the source of aggression.
The death drive forms an important part of Freud's psychoanalytic theory, being one of the two fundamental drives that influence behaviour. It is a controversial aspect of Freud's theory, with many later analysts modifying it or outright rejecting it. Later analysts who have accepted the concept have created the concept of mortido and destrudo to provide an analogous term to Eros's libido.
- ^ Freud, On Metapsychology p. 380.
- ^ Freud, On Metapsychology p. 381.
- ^ Eric Berne, What Do You say After You Say Hello? (London, 1975) pp. 399–400.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
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:2was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Freud, Sigmund (1978). The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud. Volume XIX (1923–26) The Ego and the Id and Other Works. Strachey, James, Freud, Anna, Rothgeb, Carrie Lee, Richards, Angela, Scientific Literature Corporation. London: Hogarth Press. p. 19. ISBN 0701200677. OCLC 965512.