Libido

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"Libido" (Fr. libido)

Sigmund Freud

Freud conceives of the libido as a quantitative (or "economic") concept: it is an energy which can increase or descrease, and which can be displaced.[1]

Freud insisted on the sexual nature of this energy, and throughout his work he maintained a dualism in which the libido is opposed to another (non-sexual) form of energy.


Jung opposed this dualism, positing a single form of life-energy which is neutral in character, and proposed that this energy be denoted by the term "libido."

Jacques Lacan

Lacan rejects Jung's monism and reaffirms Freud's dualism.[2]

He argues, with Freud, that the libido is exclusively sexual.

Lacan also follows Freud in affirming that the libido is exclusively masculine.[3]

"Libido and the ego are on the same side. Narcissism is libidinal.[4]

From 1964 on, however, there is a shift to articulating the libido more with the real.[5]

However, in general Lacan does not use the term "libido" anywhere near as frequently as Freud, preferring to reconceptualize sexual energy in terms of jouissance.

See Also


References

  1. Freud, Sigmund. SE XVIII. 1921c. p.90.
  2. Lacan, Jacques. The Seminar. Book I. Freud's Papers on Technique, 1953-54. Trans. John Forrester. New York: Nortion; Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988. p.119-20
  3. Lacan, Jacques. Écrits: A Selection. Trans. Alan Sheridan. London: Tavistock Publications, 1977. p.291
  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. Paris: Seuil, 1966. p.848-9