Difference between revisions of "Pleasure principle"

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"[[pleasure principle]]" ([[Fr]]. ''[[principe de plaisir]]'')
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{{Top}}principe de [[plaisir]]{{Bottom}}
  
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Even when [[Lacan]] uses the word "[[pleasure]]" on its own, he is always referring to the [[pleasure principle|pleasure ''principle'']], and never to a sensation.
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==Sigmund Freud==
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According to [[Freud]], the [[pleasure principle]] is one of the "two principles of [[mental]] functioning" -- the [[other]] [[being]] the [[reality principle]].  The [[pleasure principle]] directs all mental or [[psychical]] [[activity]] towards obtaining -- maximizing -- [[pleasure]] and avoiding -- minimizing -- [[pleasure|unpleasure]].  All mental or psychical activity is directed -- by the [[pleasure principle]] -- towards obtaining [[pleasure]] and avoiding [[pleasure|unpleasure]].
  
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===Equilibrium===
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[[Unpleasure]] is related to the increase of quantities of [[excitation]].  [[Unpleasure]] results from increased excitation.  [[Pleasure]] results from their reduction.  The [[pleasure principle]] therefore serves to reduce tension and to [[return]] the [[psyche]] to a [[state]] of equilibrium or constancy.
  
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The [[pleasure principle]] is one of the "two principles of mental functioning" posted by [[Freud]] in his metapsychological writings (the other being the [[reality principle]]).
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===Beyond the Pleasure Principle===
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[[Freud]] suggests that there is something "[[beyond the pleasure principle]]" -- namely the [[death drive]]s -- which attempt to reduce [[psychic]] tension to zero, and thus to return [[living]] beings to an inorganic state.
  
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The [[pleasure principle]] aims exclusively at avoiding [[unpleasure]] and obtaining [[pleasure]].
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==Jacques Lacan==
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For [[Lacan]] the [[pleasure principle]] is an obstacle to ''[[jouissance]]' that takes the [[subject]] to that extreme point where the [[erotic]] borders upon [[death]] and where [[subjectivity]] risks extinction.  The [[pleasure principle]] is closely linked -- closely related -- to the [[prohibition]] of [[incest]], the [[symbolic law]] and the regulation of [[desire]].  The [[pleasure principle]] is "that which regulates the distance between the subject and ''[[das Ding]]''.  In [[Chronology|1960]], [[Lacan]] develops an important opposition between [[pleasure]] and ''[[jouissance]]''.  ''[[Jouissance]]'' is an excessive quantity of excitation which the [[pleasure principle]] tries to prevent.  The [[pleasure principle]] is a commandment -- which can be phrased -- "[[Enjoy]] as little as possible."''
  
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<blockquote>The function of the pleasure principle is, in effect, to lead the subject from [[signifier]] to signifier, by generating as many [[signifiers]] as are required to maintain at as low a level as possible the tension that regulates the [[whole]] functioning of the psychic [[apparatus]].<ref>{{S7}} p. 119</ref></blockquote>
  
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[[Lacan]]'s first extended discussion of the [[pleasure principle]] appears in the [[seminar]] of 1954-5.
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[[Lacan]] describes the [[pleasure principle]] in the [[seminar]] of 1954-5.<ref>{{L}} "[[Seminar II|Le moi dans la théorie de Freud et dans la technique de la psychanalyse]]." (The Ego in Freud's [[Theory]] and in the [[Technique]] of [[Psychoanalysis]].) 1954-5. Unpublished.</ref>
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Here [[Lacan]] compares the [[pleasure principle]] to a homeostatic device that aims at maintaining excitation at the lowest function level.<ref>{{S2}} p.79-80</ref>
 
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This accords with [[Freud]]'s thesis that [[unpleasure]] is related to the increase of quantities of excitation, and [[pleasure]] to their reduction.
 
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[[Lacan]] opposes the [[pleasure principle]], which he dubs the "restitutive tendency," to the [[death drive]] (the "repetitive tendency"), in accordance with [[Freud]]'s view that the [[death drive]] is "beyond the pleasure principle."<ref>{{S2}} p.79-80</ref>
 
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In 1960, [[Lacan]] develops what soon comes to be an important concept in his work; the idea of an opposition between [[pleasure]] and ''[[jouissance]]''.
 
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''[[Jouissance]]'' is now defined as an excessive quantity of excitation which the [[pleasure principle]] attempts to prevent.
 
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The [[pleasure principle]] is thus seen as a [[symbolic]] [[law]], a commandment which can be phrased "Enjoy as little as possible" (which is why [[Freud]] originally called it the ''unpleasure'' principle).<ref>[[Freud|Freud, Sigmund]]. SE V. 1900a. p.574</ref>
 
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[[Pleasure]] is the safeguard of a state of homeostasis and constancy which ''[[jouissance]]'' constantly threatens to disrupt and [[trauma]]tize.
 
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<blockquote>The function of the pleasure principle is, in effect, to lead the subject from signifier to signifier, by generating as amny signifiers as are required to maintain at as low a level as possible the tension that regulates the whole functioning of the psychic apparatus.<ref>{{S7}} p.119</ref></blockquote>
 
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Put another way, the [[pleasure principle]] is the [[prohibition]] on [[incest]], "that which regulates the distance between the subject and ''das Ding."<ref>{{S7}} p.69</ref>
 
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When the [[subject]] transgresses this prohibition, gets too near to the [[Thing]], then he suffers.
 
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Since it is the drives which permit the subject to transgress the pleasure principle, it follows that every drive is a death drive.
 
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Since the pleasure principle is related to prohibition, to the law, and to regulation, it is clearly on the side of the symbolic, whereas ''jouissance'' is on the side of the [[real]].
 
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The pleasure principle is thus "nothing else than the dominance of the signifier."<ref>{{S7}} p.134</ref>
 
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This involves Lacan in a paradox, since the symbolic is also the realm of the [[repetition compulsion]], which is, in [[Freud]]'s terms, precisely that which goes ''beyond'' the pleasure principle.
 
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Indeed, some of Lacan's descriptions of the pleasure principle make it sound almost identical to the repetition compulsion.
 
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<blockquote>"The function of the pleasure principle is to make man always search for what he has to find again, but which he will never attain."<ref>{{S7}} p.68</ref></blockquote>
 
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==See Also==
 
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* [[Death drive]]
 
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* ''[[Jouissance]]''
 
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* [[Reality principle]]
 
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* [[Repetition compulsion]]
 
  
 
==References==
 
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Latest revision as of 16:52, 26 September 2020

French: [[principe de plaisir]]

Sigmund Freud

According to Freud, the pleasure principle is one of the "two principles of mental functioning" -- the other being the reality principle. The pleasure principle directs all mental or psychical activity towards obtaining -- maximizing -- pleasure and avoiding -- minimizing -- unpleasure. All mental or psychical activity is directed -- by the pleasure principle -- towards obtaining pleasure and avoiding unpleasure.

Equilibrium

Unpleasure is related to the increase of quantities of excitation. Unpleasure results from increased excitation. Pleasure results from their reduction. The pleasure principle therefore serves to reduce tension and to return the psyche to a state of equilibrium or constancy.

Beyond the Pleasure Principle

Freud suggests that there is something "beyond the pleasure principle" -- namely the death drives -- which attempt to reduce psychic tension to zero, and thus to return living beings to an inorganic state.

Jacques Lacan

For Lacan the pleasure principle is an obstacle to jouissance' that takes the subject to that extreme point where the erotic borders upon death and where subjectivity risks extinction. The pleasure principle is closely linked -- closely related -- to the prohibition of incest, the symbolic law and the regulation of desire. The pleasure principle is "that which regulates the distance between the subject and das Ding. In 1960, Lacan develops an important opposition between pleasure and jouissance. Jouissance is an excessive quantity of excitation which the pleasure principle tries to prevent. The pleasure principle is a commandment -- which can be phrased -- "Enjoy as little as possible."

The function of the pleasure principle is, in effect, to lead the subject from signifier to signifier, by generating as many signifiers as are required to maintain at as low a level as possible the tension that regulates the whole functioning of the psychic apparatus.[1]

Lacan describes the pleasure principle in the seminar of 1954-5.[2]

References

  1. ↑ Lacan, Jacques. The Seminar. Book VII. The Ethics of Psychoanalysis, 1959-60. Trans. Dennis Porter. London: Routledge, 1992. p. 119
  2. ↑ Lacan, Jacques. "Le moi dans la théorie de Freud et dans la technique de la psychanalyse." (The Ego in Freud's Theory and in the Technique of Psychoanalysis.) 1954-5. Unpublished.


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