Changes

* [[desire]].

In the context of this distinction, "[[need]]" comes close to what [[Sigmund Freud]] referred to as "[[instinct]]" (''[[Instinkt]]''); that is, a purely ''[[biological]]'' concept opposed to the realm of the [[drive]] (''[[Trieb]]'').

[[Lacan]] bases this distinction on the fact that in order to satisfy his [[needs]] the infant must articulate them in [[language]]; in other words, the infant must articulate his [[needs]] in a "[[demand]]".

The result of this split between [[need]] and [[demand]] is an insatiable leftover, which is [[desire]] itself.

[[Need]] is thus an intermittent tension which arises for purely organic reasons and which is discharged entirely by the specific action corresponding to the particular [[need]] in question.