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==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 [[pleasure|unpleasure]]. The [[pleasure principle]] directs all mental functioning towards obtaining [[pleasure]] and avoiding -- minimizing -- [[pleasure|unpleasure]].
All mental or psychical activity is directed -- by the [[pleasure principle]] -- towards obtaining [[pleasure]] and avoiding [[pleasure|unpleasure]].
[[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 drive]]s -- which attempt to reduce psychic tension to zero, and thus to return living beings to an inorganic state.