=====Translator's Note=====[[Lacan]] reinstates a distinction, already clear in [[Freud]], between 's theory of the wholly psychical ''pulsion'' (''[[drive|trieb]]'') and ''instinct'' (''[[Instinkt]]''), with its "[[biology|biological]]" connotationswas revised extensively throughout his career.
As [[Lacan]] has pounted out, [[Freud]]'s [[English]] translators blur this distinction by translating both terms as "[[instinct]]".
The [[drive]], or [[insstinct]] as it is usually translated in English, is a concept that exists on the border between the somatic (bodily) and the mental.
=====''Instinkt'' and ''Trieb''=====
[[Freud]] normally uses the word "'''''[[Instinkt]]'''''" ("'''[[instinct]]'''") to refer to a relatively ''[[nature|fixed]]'' and ''[[nature|unchangeable]]'' set of [[instinct|behavioral patterns]] "peculiar to an [[nature|animal species]], varying little from one member of this species to another and unfolding in accordance with a temporal scheme which is generally resistant to change and apparently geared to a purpose."<ref>Laplanche, Jean and Pontalis, Jean-Bertrand. ''The Language of Psychoanalysis''. Karnac Books, 1996</ref>
"'''''[[Trieb]]'''''" ("[[trieb|drive]]"), on the other hand, is extremely [[development|variable]], and [[development|develops]] in ways which are [[time|contingent]] on the life history of the [[subject]].
Unlike '''''[[Instinkt]]''''', '''''[[Trieb]]'''''" ("[[trieb|drive]]") is extremely [[development|variable]], and [[development|develops]] in ways which are [[time|contingent]] on the life history of the [[subject]].
=====Need and Satisfaction=====
The '''''[[instinct]]''''' is characterized by a [[biology|biological]] [[need]] giving rise to an intermittent ''excitation'' or tension within the [[biology|body]] -- such as ''hunger'' or ''thirst'' -- which can be [[desire|satisfied]].
The [[drive]] differs from the '''[[instinct]]''' in that it is characterized by the ''constancy'' of the pressure it exerts on [[consciousness]], and cannot be [[desire|satisfied]].
The [[drive]] differs from the '''[[instinct]]''' in that it is characterized by the ''constancy'' of the pressure it exerts on [[consciousness]], as a ''constant force'' that cannot be [[desire|satisfied]].
Unlike the '''[[instinct]]''', the [[drive]] is characterized by the ''constancy'' of the pressure it exerts on [[consciousness]], as a ''constant force'' that cannot be [[desire|satisfied]].
The [[drive]] differs from the '''[[instinct]]''' in that it exerts a ''constant pressure'' on [[consciousness]], as a ''constant force'' that cannot be [[desire|satisfied]].
The [[drive]], on the other hand, cannot be [[desire|satisfied]] and is characterized by the constancy of the pressure it exerts on [[consciousness]].
The [[drive]], on the other hand, is characterized by the ''constancy'' of the pressure it exerts on [[consciousness]], and so cannot be [[desire|satisfied]].
The [[drive]], on the other hand, is characterized by the ''constancy'' of the pressure it exerts on [[consciousness]], a ''constant force'' that can never be [[desire|satisfied]].
