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The [[drive]], or [[insstinctinstinct]] as it is usually translated in English, is a concept that exists on the border between the somatic (bodily) and the mental.
According to [[Freud]], there are four characteristics of the [[drive]]: its '''pressure''', its '''aim''', it's '''object''' and its '''source'''.<ref>1984c [1915]: 118</ref>
By '''pressure''' Freud means the [[drive]]'s motor factor, that is to say, "the amount of force or measure of the demand for work which it represents."<ref><ref>1984c [1915]: 118</ref>
Exerting '''pressure''' is a characteristic common to all [[drive]]s and represents the [[drive]]'s essence.
The '''aim''' of the [[drive]] is to seek its own satisfaction and it achieves this by removing the source of stimulation.
The '''object''' of the drive is that which the drive attaches itself to in order to achieve its aim.
Freud designates a particualrly close attachment between the drive and its object as "fixation".
Finally, the source of the drive is "the somatic process which occurs in an organ or part of the body and whose stimulus is represented in mental life by an instinct."<ref>1984c [1915]: 119</ref>
The drive, in short, is something that originates within the body and seeks expression in the psyche as representation.
Freud is primariluy concerned with the aims of the drives and how they seek satisfaction.
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It is crucial to acknowledge the distinction between an instinct and a drive.
An instinct designates a need that can be satisfied.
The examples Freud usually gives are those of hunger and thirst.
THese needs give rise to an excitation within the body that can be satisfied and neutralized.
The drive, on the other hand, cannot be satisfied and is characterized by the ''constancy'' of the pressure it exerts on [[consciousness]].
==See Also==
