Difference between revisions of "Drive"

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==Sigmund Freud==
  
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[[Freud]] argued that [[sexuality]] is composed of a number of partial drives (Ger. Partieltrieb) such as the oral drive and the anal drive, each specified by a different source (a different erotogenic zone).
  
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At first these component drives function anarchically and independently (viz. the 'polymorphous perversity' of children), but in puberty they become organised and fused together under the primacy of the genital organs.<ref>Freud, 1905d</ref>
  
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Instinctual (pre-lingual) bodily impulses or instincts, which Freud ultimately decided could be reduced to two primary drives: 1) the life drives (both the pleasure principle and the reality principle); and 2) the death drive, which Freud saw as even more primal than the life drives.
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==Human Sexuality==
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[[Sigmund Freud]]'s [[concept]] of the [[drive]] (''Trieb'', ''pulsion'') is central to his theory of [[human]] [[sexuality]].
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According to [[Freud]], [[human]] [[sexuality]] is not regulated by [[instinct]]s but by [[drive]]s.
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[[Instinct]]s are relatively fixed and innate.
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[[Instinct]] denotes a [[myth]]ical pre-linguistic [[need]].
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[[Drive]]s are variable, and develop in ways that are contingent on the life history of the [[subject]].
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[[Drive]] is separate from the realm of [[biology]].
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The [[drive]] does not refer to "some ultimate given, something archaic, primordial."<ref>{{Sll}} p. 162</ref>
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The [[drive]] is a thoroughly cultural and symbolic construct.
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==Jacques Lacan==
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[[Lacan]] follows [[Freud]]'s distinction between [[drive]] (''Trieb'' and [[instinct]] (''Instinkt'').<ref>{{E}} p.301</ref>
  
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Freud's concept of the drive (Trieb) (pulsion) lies at the heart of his theory of sexuality.
 
  
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For Freud, the distinctive feature of human sexuality, as opposed to the sexual life of other animals, is that it is not regulated by any [[instinct]] (a concept which implies a relatively fixed and innate relationship to an object) but by the drives, which differ from instincts in that they are extremely variable, and develop in ways which are contingent on the life history of the subject.
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THE MOVEMENT OF DRIVE
  
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Lacan reminds his readers that Freud defined the drive as  a montage composed of four discontinuous elements: the pressure, the end, the object and the source.
  
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Lacan incorporates the four elements of the drive in his theory of the drive's 'circuit'.
  
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In this circuit, the drive originates in an erogenous zone, circles round the object, and then returns to the erogenous zone.
  
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[[Lacan]] reaffirms the Freudian distinction between [[drive]] (''Trieb'') and [[instinct]] (''Instinkt'').<ref>E 301</ref>
 
  
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[[Instinct]] denotes a [[myth]]ical pre-linguistic [[need]].
 
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[[Drive]] is completely removed from the realm of [[biology]].
 
 
[[Drive]], unlike [[biology|biological]] [[need]]s, can never be [[satisfaction|satisfied]].
 
[[Drive]], unlike [[biology|biological]] [[need]]s, can never be [[satisfaction|satisfied]].
 
[[Drive]]s do not aim at an [[object]] but rather circle perpetually round it.  
 
[[Drive]]s do not aim at an [[object]] but rather circle perpetually round it.  
  
 
[[Lacan]] argues that the purpose of the [[drive]] is not to reach a goal (a final destination) but to follow its aim (the way itself), which is to circle round the [[object]].<ref>Sll, 168</ref>  
 
[[Lacan]] argues that the purpose of the [[drive]] is not to reach a goal (a final destination) but to follow its aim (the way itself), which is to circle round the [[object]].<ref>Sll, 168</ref>  
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Thus the real purpose of the [[drive]] is not some [[myth]]ical goal of full [[satisfaction]], but to return to its circular path, and the real source of [[enjoyment]] is the [[repetition|repetitive]] movement of this closed circuit.
 
  
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The function of the [[drive]] is not to attain full [[satisfaction]] but to return to its circular path.
  
−
Lacan reminds his readers that Freud defined the drive as  a montage composed of four discontinuous elements: the pressure, the end, the object and the source.  
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The real source of [[enjoyment]] is the [[repetition|repetitive]] movement of this closed circuit.
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==Partial==
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[[Lacan]] argues that the [[drive]]s are partial.
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The [[drive]]s are partial (in that they represent [[sexuality]] partially) (not in the sense that they are parts of a whole).
  
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The [[drive]] does not refer to "some ultimate given, something archaic, primordial."<ref>Sll, 162</ref>  
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[[Drive]]s do not represent the reproductive function of sexuality (but only the dimension of enjoyment).<ref>{{S11}} p.204</ref>
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The [[drive]] is a thoroughly cultural and symbolic construct.
 
  
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==Differences==
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Lacan emphasizes the partial nature of all drives, but differs from Freud on two points.
  
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Lacan incorporates the four elements of the drive in his theory of the drive's 'circuit'. In this circuit, the drive originates in an erogenous zone, circles round the object, and then returns to the erogenous zone. This circuit is structured by the three grammatical voices
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[[Lacan]] rejects the idea that the partial drives can  ever attain any complete organisation or fusion, arguing that the primacy of the genital zone, if achieved, is always a highly precarious affair.  
  
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He thus challenges the notion, put forward by some psychoanalysts after Freud, of a genital drive in which the partial drives are completely integrated in a harmonious fashion.
  
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1    The active voice (e.g. to see)
 
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2    The reflexive voice (e.g. to see oneself)
 
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3    The passive voice (e.g. to be seen)
 
  
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==Four Drives==
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[[Lacan]] identifies four partial [[drive]]s:
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* the [[oral]] [[drive]]
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* the [[anal]] [[drive]]
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* the [[scopic]] [[drive]]
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* the [[invocatory]] [[drive]]
  
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Each of these [[drive]]s is specified by a different [[partial object]] and a different [[erogenous zone]].
  
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The first of these two times (active and reflexive voices) are autoerotic: they lack a subject Only in the third time (the passive voice), when the drive completes its circuit, does 'a new subject' appear (which is to say that before this time, there was no subject).<ref> see S11, 178</ref>  Although the third time is the passive voice, the drive is always essentially active, which is why Lacan writes the third time not as 'to be seen' but as 'to make oneself be seen'. Even supposedly 'passive' phases of the drive such as masochism involve activity.<ref>Sll, 200</ref>  The circuit of the drive is the only way for the subject to transgress the pleasure principle.
 
  
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==Drive and Desire==
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the drive is not merely another name for desire: they are the partial aspects in which desire is realised.
  
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Freud argued that sexuality is composed of a number of partial drives (Ger. Partieltrieb) such as the oral drive and the anal drive, each specified by a different source (a different erotogenic zone). At first these component drives function anarchically and independently (viz. the 'polymorphous perversity' of children), but in puberty they become organised and fused together under the primacy of the genital organs.<ref>Freud, 1905d</ref>  Lacan emphasises the partial nature of all drives, but differs from Freud on two points.
+
Desire is one and undivided, whereas the drives are partial manifestations of desire.
  
  
 +
The circuit of the drive is the only way for the subject to transgress the pleasure principle.
  
  
−
[[Lacan]] rejects the idea that the partial drives can  ever attain any complete organisation or fusion, arguing that the primacy of the genital zone, if achieved, is always a highly precarious affair. He thus challenges the notion, put forward by some psychoanalysts after Freud, of a genital drive in which the partial drives are completely integrated in a harmonious fashion.
+
==Dualism==
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Throughout the various reformulations of drive-theory in Freud's work, one constant feature is a basic dualism.  
  
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2.    Lacan argues that the drives are partial, not in the sense that they are parts of a whole (a 'genital drive'), but in the sense that they only represent sexuality partially; they do not represent the reproductive function of sexuality but only the dimension of enjoyment.<ref>Sll, 204</ref>
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He conceived the dualism of the drives in terms of an opposition between the life drives (Lebenstriebe) and the death drives (Todestriebe).
  
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Lacan identifies four partial drives: the oral drive, the anal drive, the scopic drive, and the invocatory drive. Each of these drives is specified by a different partial object and a different erogenous zone.
 
  
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The first two drives relate to demand, whereas the second pair relate to desire.
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Lacan argues that it is important to retain Freud's dualism, and rejects the monism of Jung, who argued that all psychic forces could be reduced to one single concept of psychic energy.<ref>(Sl, l18-20).</ref>
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In 1957, in the context of the graph of desire, Lacan proposes the formula (SO D) as the [[matheme]] for the drive. This formula is to be read: the barred subject in relation to demand, the fading of the subject before the insistence of a demand that persists without any conscious intention to sustain it.
 
  
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Throughout the various reformulations of drive-theory in Freud's work, one constant feature is a basic dualism. At first this dualism was conceived in terms of an opposition between the sexual drives (Sexualtriebe) on the one hand, and the ego-drives (Ichtriebe) or drives of self-preservation (Selbsterhaltungs-triebe) on the other. This opposition was problematised by Freud's growing realisation, in the period 1914-20, that the ego-drives are themselves sexual.
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However, Lacan prefers to reconceptualise this dualism in terms of an opposition between the symbolic and the imaginary, and not in terms of an opposition between different kinds of drives.  
  
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He was thus led to reconceptualise the dualism of the drives in terms of an opposition between the life drives (Lebenstriebe) and the death drives (Todestriebe).
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Thus, for Lacan, all drives are sexual drives, and every drive is a [[death drive]].  Since every drive is excessive, repetitive, and ultimately destructive.<ref> (Ec,848)</ref>
  
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Lacan argues that it is important to retain Freud's dualism, and rejects the monism of Jung, who argued that all psychic forces could be reduced to one single concept of psychic energy.<ref>(Sl, l18-20).</ref>  However, Lacan prefers to reconceptualise this dualism in terms of an opposition between the symbolic and the imaginary, and not in terms of an opposition between different kinds of drives. Thus, for Lacan, all drives are sexual drives, and every drive is a [[death drive]].  Since every drive is excessive, repetitive, and ultimately destructive.<ref> (Ec,848)</ref>
 
  
  
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The drives are closely related to [[desire]]; both originate in the field of the subject, as opposed to the genital drive, which (if it exists) finds its form on the side of the Other.<ref>(Sll, 189)</ref>  However, the drive is not merely another name for desire: they are the partial aspects in which desire is realised. Desire is one and undivided, whereas the drives are partial manifestations of desire.
 
  
 +
==Formula==
 +
In 1957, in the context of the graph of desire, Lacan proposes the formula (SO D) as the [[matheme]] for the drive.
  
 +
This formula is to be read: the barred subject in relation to demand, the fading of the subject before the insistence of a demand that persists without any conscious intention to sustain it.
  
−
== def ==
+
==Activity==
 +
the drive is always essentially active, which is why Lacan writes the third time not as 'to be seen' but as 'to make oneself be seen'.
  
−
Instinctual (pre-lingual) bodily impulses or instincts, which Freud ultimately decided could be reduced to two primary drives: 1) the life drives (both the pleasure principle and the reality principle); and 2) the death drive, which Freud saw as even more primal than the life drives.
+
Even supposedly 'passive' phases of the drive such as masochism involve activity.<ref>Sll, 200</ref> 
  
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==def=
 
  
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==See Also==
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* [[Desire]]
  
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== References ==
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==References==
 
<references/>
 
<references/>
  
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[[Category:Lacan]]
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[[Category:Jacques Lacan]]
 
[[Category:Terms]]
 
[[Category:Terms]]
 
[[Category:Concepts]]
 
[[Category:Concepts]]
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[[Category:Psychoanalysis]]-->
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[[Category:Psychoanalysis]]

Revision as of 05:50, 29 June 2006


Sigmund Freud

Freud argued that sexuality is composed of a number of partial drives (Ger. Partieltrieb) such as the oral drive and the anal drive, each specified by a different source (a different erotogenic zone).

At first these component drives function anarchically and independently (viz. the 'polymorphous perversity' of children), but in puberty they become organised and fused together under the primacy of the genital organs.[1]

Instinctual (pre-lingual) bodily impulses or instincts, which Freud ultimately decided could be reduced to two primary drives: 1) the life drives (both the pleasure principle and the reality principle); and 2) the death drive, which Freud saw as even more primal than the life drives.

Human Sexuality

Sigmund Freud's concept of the drive (Trieb, pulsion) is central to his theory of human sexuality.

According to Freud, human sexuality is not regulated by instincts but by drives.

Instincts are relatively fixed and innate.

Instinct denotes a mythical pre-linguistic need.

Drives are variable, and develop in ways that are contingent on the life history of the subject.

Drive is separate from the realm of biology.

The drive does not refer to "some ultimate given, something archaic, primordial."[2]

The drive is a thoroughly cultural and symbolic construct.

Jacques Lacan

Lacan follows Freud's distinction between drive (Trieb and instinct (Instinkt).[3]


THE MOVEMENT OF DRIVE

Lacan reminds his readers that Freud defined the drive as a montage composed of four discontinuous elements: the pressure, the end, the object and the source.

Lacan incorporates the four elements of the drive in his theory of the drive's 'circuit'.

In this circuit, the drive originates in an erogenous zone, circles round the object, and then returns to the erogenous zone.


Drive, unlike biological needs, can never be satisfied. Drives do not aim at an object but rather circle perpetually round it.

Lacan argues that the purpose of the drive is not to reach a goal (a final destination) but to follow its aim (the way itself), which is to circle round the object.[4]

The function of the drive is not to attain full satisfaction but to return to its circular path.

The real source of enjoyment is the repetitive movement of this closed circuit.

Partial

Lacan argues that the drives are partial.

The drives are partial (in that they represent sexuality partially) (not in the sense that they are parts of a whole).

Drives do not represent the reproductive function of sexuality (but only the dimension of enjoyment).[5]

Differences

Lacan emphasizes the partial nature of all drives, but differs from Freud on two points.

Lacan rejects the idea that the partial drives can ever attain any complete organisation or fusion, arguing that the primacy of the genital zone, if achieved, is always a highly precarious affair.

He thus challenges the notion, put forward by some psychoanalysts after Freud, of a genital drive in which the partial drives are completely integrated in a harmonious fashion.


Four Drives

Lacan identifies four partial drives:

Each of these drives is specified by a different partial object and a different erogenous zone.


Drive and Desire

the drive is not merely another name for desire: they are the partial aspects in which desire is realised.

Desire is one and undivided, whereas the drives are partial manifestations of desire.


The circuit of the drive is the only way for the subject to transgress the pleasure principle.


Dualism

Throughout the various reformulations of drive-theory in Freud's work, one constant feature is a basic dualism.

He conceived the dualism of the drives in terms of an opposition between the life drives (Lebenstriebe) and the death drives (Todestriebe).


Lacan argues that it is important to retain Freud's dualism, and rejects the monism of Jung, who argued that all psychic forces could be reduced to one single concept of psychic energy.[6]

However, Lacan prefers to reconceptualise this dualism in terms of an opposition between the symbolic and the imaginary, and not in terms of an opposition between different kinds of drives.

Thus, for Lacan, all drives are sexual drives, and every drive is a death drive. Since every drive is excessive, repetitive, and ultimately destructive.[7]



Formula

In 1957, in the context of the graph of desire, Lacan proposes the formula (SO D) as the matheme for the drive.

This formula is to be read: the barred subject in relation to demand, the fading of the subject before the insistence of a demand that persists without any conscious intention to sustain it.

Activity

the drive is always essentially active, which is why Lacan writes the third time not as 'to be seen' but as 'to make oneself be seen'.

Even supposedly 'passive' phases of the drive such as masochism involve activity.[8]


See Also

References

  1. ↑ Freud, 1905d
  2. ↑ Template:Sll p. 162
  3. ↑ Lacan, Jacques. Écrits: A Selection. Trans. Alan Sheridan. London: Tavistock Publications, 1977. p.301
  4. ↑ Sll, 168
  5. ↑ 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.204
  6. ↑ (Sl, l18-20).
  7. ↑ (Ec,848)
  8. ↑ Sll, 200
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