Difference between revisions of "Death drive"

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[[Image:Kida_d.gif|right|frame|[[Kid A In Alphabet Land]]]]
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{{Top}}[[pulsion]] de [[mort]]]]''
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|| [[German]]: ''[[Todestrieb{{Bottom}}
  
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In his later writings [[Freud]] posits the existence of two broad categories of life instincts (''Lebestriebe'', also known as ''Eros'') and death instincts (''Todestriebe'', sometimes known as '[[Thanatos]]').
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==Sigmund Freud==
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The former are cconcerned with the creation of cohesion and unity; the latter with the undoing of connections and the destruction of unity.
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[[Sigmund Freud|Freud]] introduced the [[concept]] of the [[death drive]] in ''[[Beyond the Pleasure Principle]]'' (1920).
  
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All drives are regressive in that they seek to return to an earlier state or to recover a lost [[object]], and the death drive expresses the tendency, which is said to be found in all living beings, to annul all tension by reverting to an inorganic state.
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Here he established a fundamental opposition between [[death drive|life drive]]s (''[[eros]]''), conceived of as a tendency towards [[cohesion]] and [[unity]], and the [[death drive]]s, which operate in the opposite direction, [[undoing]] connections and destroying things.
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Initially inward-directed, the death drive first manifests its existence in the human tendency to self-destruction; as it subsequently turns to the outside world, it takes the form of aggressive or destructive behavior.
 
  
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The theory of the death drive is, by Freud's own admission, speculative, and is grounded in the ddescriptions of the [[compulsion to repeat]].
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The concept of the [[death drive]] was one of the most controversial [[:category:concepts|concepts]] introduced by [[Freud]], and many of his disciples rejected it, but [[Freud]] continued to reaffirm the concept for the rest of his [[life]].  
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The fact that Freucd describes the death drive as 'silent' makes it difficult to supply concrete clinical evidence for its existence and the notion remains controversal, even though Freud continues to uphold it in his very last writings.
 
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Many post-Freudian analysts dismiss the notion of a death drive as mere speculation on Freud's part, but Klein adopts it whole-heartedly, regarding the tyranny of the early [[superego]] as it crushes the young child's [[ego]] as the first clinical manifestation of its power.
 
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[[Lacan]] tends to reject Freud's thesis of a duality of life and death drives, arguing that the death drive is an aspect or component of all drives.
 
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The death drive strives, in Lacan's view, to go beyond the [[pleasure principle]] and to attain the painful joys of [[jouissance]].
 
  
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==Jacques Lacan==
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===Psychoanalysis===
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[[Lacan]] follows [[Freud]] in reaffirming the concept of the [[death drive]] as central to [[psychoanalysis]]:
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<blockquote>"To ignore the [[death instinct]] in his [Freud's] [[doctrine]] is to misunderstand that doctrine entirely."<ref>{{E}} p. 301</ref></blockquote>
  
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===Nostalgia===
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In [[Lacan]]'s first remarks on the [[death drive]], in 1938, he describes it as a [[nostalgia]] for a [[preoedipal|lost harmony]], a [[desire]] to [[return]] to the [[preoedipal|preoedipal fusion]] with the [[mother]]'s [[breast]], the [[castration|loss]] of which is marked on the [[psyche]] in the [[complex|weaning complex]].<ref>{{1938}} p. 35</ref>
  
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==Death Drive and Freud ==
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===Narcissism===
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The [[death drive]] (French: ''[[pulsion de mort]]'') is first elaborated by [[Sigmund Freud]] in ''[[Beyond the Pleasure Principle]]'' (1920).
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In 1946 he [[links]] the [[death drive]] to the [[narcissism|suicidal tendency]] of [[narcissism]].<ref>{{Ec}} p. 186</ref>.
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Here [[Freud]] introduces an opposition between the [[life drive]] (''eros'') - associated with [[cohesion]] and [[unity]] - and the [[death drive]] - associated with [[destruction]] and [[fragmentation]].<ref>Freud 1930a: Se XXI, 120</ref>
 
  
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(The concept of the death drive was one of the most controversial concepts introduced by Freud, and many of his disciples rejected it, but Freud continued to reaffirm the concept for the rest of his life. Of the non-Lacanian schools of psychoanalytic theory, only Kleinian psychoanalysis takes the concept seriously.)
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By linking the [[death drive]] with the [[preoedipal phase]] and with [[narcissism]], these early remarks would [[place]] the [[death drive]] in what [[Lacan]] later comes to call the [[imaginary order]].
  
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==Death Drive and Lacan==
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===Symbolic Order===
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[[Jacques Lacan]] (following Freud) reaffirms the concept of the [[death drive]] as central to [[psychoanalysis]]. 
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However, when [[Lacan]] begins to develop his concept of the [[order|three orders]] of [[imaginary]], [[symbolic]] and [[real]], in the 1950s, he does not situate the [[death drive]] in the [[imaginary]] but in the [[symbolic]].  
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[[Lacan]] wrote: "to ignore the death instinct in his [Freud's] doctrine is to misunderstand that doctrine entirely."<ref>E, 301</ref>
 
  
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In 1938, [[Lacan]] describes the [[death drive]] as a [[nostalgia]] for a [[lost harmony]], a [[desire]] to [[return]] to the [[preoedipal]] fusion with the [[mother]]'s [[breast]], the [[loss]] of which is marked on the [[psyche]] in the [[weaning complex]].<ref>Lacan, 1938: 35</ref>
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===Repetition===
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In the [[seminar]] of 1954-5, for example, he argues that the [[death drive]] is simply the fundamental tendency of the [[symbolic order]] to produce [[repetition]]:
  
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In 1946, [[Lacan]] associates the [[death drive]] with the [[suicide|suicidal tendency]] of [[narcissism]].<ref>Ec, 186</ref>
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<blockquote>"The [[death drive|death instinct]] is only the mask of the [[symbolic order]]."<ref>{{S2}} p. 326</ref></blockquote>
  
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In the 1950s, [[Lacan]] does not situate the [[death drive]] in the [[imaginary]] (despite its association with the [[preoedipal phase]] and [[narcissism]]), but rather in the [[symbolic]].
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===Biological Instincts===
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This shift also marks a [[difference]] with [[Freud]], for whom the [[death drive]] was closely bound up with [[biology]], representing the fundamental tendency of every [[living]] [[thing]] to return to an inorganic [[state]].  
  
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In the 1954-5 seminar, ''[[The Ego in Freud's Theory and in the Technique of Psychoanalysis]]'', Lacan states that the [[death drive]] is simply the fundamental tendency of the [[symbolic]] [[order]] to produce [[repetition]].
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By situating the [[death drive]] firmly in the [[symbolic]], [[Lacan]] articulates it with [[culture]] rather than [[nature]]; he states that the [[death drive]] "is not a question of biology,"<ref>{{E}} p. 102</ref>, and must be distinguished from the [[biological]] [[instinct]] to return to the inanimate.<ref>{{S7}} p. 211-12</ref>
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"The death instinct is only the mask of the symbolic order."<ref>S2, 326</ref>
 
  
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==Death Drive and Biology==
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===Sexual Drives===
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For Freud, the [[death drive]] was closely bound up with [[biology]], representing the fundamental tendency of every living thing to return to an inorganic state.
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[[Another]] difference between [[Lacan]]'s concept of the [[death drive]] and [[Freud]]'s emerges in 1964.  
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By situating the death drive firmly in the symbolic, Lacan articulates it with culture rather than nature; he states that the death drive "is not a question of bjolog,"<ref>E, 102</ref> and must be distinguished from the biological instinct to return to the inanimate.<ref>S7, 211-12</ref>
 
  
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==Death Drive and Drives==
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[[Freud]] opposed the [[death drive]] to the [[sexual]] [[drive]]s, but now [[Lacan]] argues that the [[death drive]] is not a [[separate]] [[drive]], but is in fact an aspect of every [[drive]].  
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Another difference between Lacan's concept of the death drive and Freud's emerges in 1964. Freud opposed the death drive to the sexual drives, but now
 
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Lacan argues that the death drive is not a separate drive, but is in fact an aspect - of every DRIVE.
 
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"The distinction between the life drive and the death drive is - true in as much as it manifests two aspects of the drive."<ref>gl 20</ref>
 
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Hence Lacan writes that "every drive is virtually a death drive;"<ref>Ec, 844</ref> because
 
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# every drive pursues its own extinction,
 
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# every drive involves the subject in repetition, and
 
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# every drive is an attempt to go [[beyond the pleasure principle]], to the realm of [[excess jouissance]] where enjoyment is experienced as suffering.
 
  
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==Look Up==
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<blockquote>"The [[distinction]] between the [[death drive|life drive]] and the [[death drive]] is - [[true]] in as much as it manifests two aspects of the [[drive]]."<ref>{{S11}} p. 257</ref></blockquote>
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<ref>3, 1, 64-5, 94, 135 Conversations.</ref>
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Hence [[Lacan]] writes that "every [[drive]] is virtually a [[death drive]]" because:
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# every [[drive]] pursues its own extinction,  
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# every [[drive]] involves the [[subject]] in [[repetition]], and
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# every [[drive]] is an attempt to go beyond the [[pleasure principle]], to the realm of [[excess]] ''[[jouissance]]'' where [[enjoyment]] is experienced as [[sadism|suffering]].<ref>{{Ec}} p. 844</ref>
  
 
==See Also==
 
==See Also==
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{{See}}
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* [[Biology]]
 
* [[Death]]
 
* [[Death]]
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* [[Drive]]
 
* [[Drive]]
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* [[Imaginary]]
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* [[Instinct]]
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* ''[[Jouissance]]''
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* [[Kleinian psychoanalysis]]
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* [[Narcissism]]
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* [[Nature]]
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* [[Pleasure principle]]
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* [[Repetition]]
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* [[Symbolic]]
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{{Also}}
  
 
==References==
 
==References==
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[[Category:Psychoanalysis]]
 
[[Category:Psychoanalysis]]
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[[Category:Concepts]]
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[[Category:Symbolic]]
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[[Category:Freudian psychology]]
 
 
[[Category:Real]]
 
[[Category:Real]]
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[[Category:Subject]]
 
[[Category:Jacques Lacan]]
 
[[Category:Jacques Lacan]]
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[[Category:Dictionary]]
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__NOTOC__

Latest revision as of 05:11, 24 May 2019

Kid A In Alphabet Land
French: [[pulsion de mort]]
German: Todestrieb

Sigmund Freud

Freud introduced the concept of the death drive in Beyond the Pleasure Principle (1920).

Here he established a fundamental opposition between life drives (eros), conceived of as a tendency towards cohesion and unity, and the death drives, which operate in the opposite direction, undoing connections and destroying things.

The concept of the death drive was one of the most controversial concepts introduced by Freud, and many of his disciples rejected it, but Freud continued to reaffirm the concept for the rest of his life.

Jacques Lacan

Psychoanalysis

Lacan follows Freud in reaffirming the concept of the death drive as central to psychoanalysis:

"To ignore the death instinct in his [Freud's] doctrine is to misunderstand that doctrine entirely."[1]

Nostalgia

In Lacan's first remarks on the death drive, in 1938, he describes it as a nostalgia for a lost harmony, a desire to return to the preoedipal fusion with the mother's breast, the loss of which is marked on the psyche in the weaning complex.[2]

Narcissism

In 1946 he links the death drive to the suicidal tendency of narcissism.[3].

By linking the death drive with the preoedipal phase and with narcissism, these early remarks would place the death drive in what Lacan later comes to call the imaginary order.

Symbolic Order

However, when Lacan begins to develop his concept of the three orders of imaginary, symbolic and real, in the 1950s, he does not situate the death drive in the imaginary but in the symbolic.

Repetition

In the seminar of 1954-5, for example, he argues that the death drive is simply the fundamental tendency of the symbolic order to produce repetition:

"The death instinct is only the mask of the symbolic order."[4]

Biological Instincts

This shift also marks a difference with Freud, for whom the death drive was closely bound up with biology, representing the fundamental tendency of every living thing to return to an inorganic state.

By situating the death drive firmly in the symbolic, Lacan articulates it with culture rather than nature; he states that the death drive "is not a question of biology,"[5], and must be distinguished from the biological instinct to return to the inanimate.[6]

Sexual Drives

Another difference between Lacan's concept of the death drive and Freud's emerges in 1964.

Freud opposed the death drive to the sexual drives, but now Lacan argues that the death drive is not a separate drive, but is in fact an aspect of every drive.

"The distinction between the life drive and the death drive is - true in as much as it manifests two aspects of the drive."[7]

Hence Lacan writes that "every drive is virtually a death drive" because:

  1. every drive pursues its own extinction,
  2. every drive involves the subject in repetition, and
  3. every drive is an attempt to go beyond the pleasure principle, to the realm of excess jouissance where enjoyment is experienced as suffering.[8]

See Also

References

  1. ↑ Lacan, Jacques. Écrits: A Selection. Trans. Alan Sheridan. London: Tavistock Publications, 1977. p. 301
  2. ↑ Lacan, Jacques. Les complexes familiaux dans la formation de l'individu. Essai d'analyse d'une fonction en psychologie, Paris: Navarin, 1984 [1938]. p. 35
  3. ↑ Lacan, Jacques. Écrits. Paris: Seuil, 1966. p. 186
  4. ↑ Lacan, Jacques. The Seminar. Book II. The Ego in Freud's Theory and in the Technique of Psychoanalysis, 1954-55. Trans. Sylvana Tomaselli. New York: Nortion; Cambridge: Cambridge Unviersity Press, 1988. p. 326
  5. ↑ Lacan, Jacques. Écrits: A Selection. Trans. Alan Sheridan. London: Tavistock Publications, 1977. p. 102
  6. ↑ Lacan, Jacques. The Seminar. Book VII. The Ethics of Psychoanalysis, 1959-60. Trans. Dennis Porter. London: Routledge, 1992. p. 211-12
  7. ↑ Lacan, Jacques. The Seminar. Book XI. The Four Fundamental Concepts of Psychoanalysis, 1964. Trans. Alan Sheridan. London: Hogarth Press and Institute of Psycho-Analysis, 1977. p. 257
  8. ↑ Lacan, Jacques. Écrits. Paris: Seuil, 1966. p. 844


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