Beyond the Pleasure Principle

By Sigmund Freud

This controversial publication of the 1920s marks a turning point in Freud’s theoretical approach. Previous to Beyond the Pleasure Principle, Freud attributed most behaviours to sexual impulses. In Beyond the Pleasure Principle, Freud outlines core psychoanalytic concepts, including libido, wish fulfillment, and repression. He paints a picture of the human struggle between instincts—the first set being creativity, harmony, and sexual connection, and the opposing set drawing us toward repetition, aggression, and compulsion. Perhaps most significant to this work, he moves past the conversation of sexual impulses and focuses on the death drive, or “Thanatos,” which he defines as “an urge inherent in all organic life to restore an earlier state of things.” The concept of Thanatos formed a path to subsequent theories concerning the mind’s attacks on itself, negative narcissism, and addiction to near-death experiences—a concept which helped link Western psychoanalysis with Eastern perspectives on life and death.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Release date: Sep 1, 2020
• ISBN: 9780735254442

Reviews for Beyond the Pleasure Principle

[jenladuca · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Beyond the Pleasure Principle is an extraordinary book, arguably one of the most important books ever written. Rather ashamed to admit this but I’ve never actually read Freud; given the amount of critiques, good and bad, that I’ve heard and read over the years, I decided it was time to read his work for myself. This book is really a short read that explores the “why” of our mind’s mechanics and his theory that we humans are guided by two instincts; the life instinct, Eros, which preserves all things, and the death instinct, served by the “pleasure principle” which seeks to return us to an inanimate state. This notion of the death instinct leads us to a most revolutionary theory-"The aim of all life is death". According to Feud, there is barely an aspect of life which is not exposed to the possibility of being harmed by its destructible force. Much of what Freud writes he himself admits is speculative yet the idea that there is a life and a death instinct in all organisms is certainly something that can be discussed on a deeper psychological level.

Beyond the Pleasure Principle, while short, is not an easy read, Freud sometimes packs too much information into each sentence. I frequently found myself wishing he would slow down and explain his theories in more detail, especially for those of us who have not studied psychology in any form. Being that this was one of his last texts, some of his earlier concepts seemed to be glossed over, making it difficult to understand, I would have benefited from a more detailed explanation in these areas. But, Freud is a fascinating writer, and it's interesting to read what he actually said compared to what I’ve heard about his theories.

**I received a complimentary advanced copy of this book from the publisher, Dover Publications and NetGalley in exchange for my honest review**

[p_s_patrick · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

In this work Freud presents his theory for a pyschological force that acts as the counterbalance of the sexual instinct, or libido, with which much of his previous work is concerned. Previously, he groups all forms of mpulse (such as self preservation and creativity) as being derived from the sexual instinct, which together with the other instincts such as feeding ourselves he categorises as the "Pleasure Principle". Whether we agree with this is not ever so important, it is partially a matter of semantics and redefining what is meant by libido and the sexual (Jung uses the term "libido" to refer to energy of the psyche in general). The important development that is introduced here is Freud's introduction of a counter force, a "death instinct" or "death drive", that acts against the life forces of the libido. He asserts that its primary and most common manifestation is a compulsion to repeat, which is as much a product of the instincts and the unconscious as the libidinal impulses. Freud presents various theoretical justifications for the death instinct, several from a biological /physical perspective: life originated from inanimate matter, and all life will die (and therefore this is its goal, thermodynamically speaking). The problem that I find in this is that from the point of view of a physicist, this is true, and there is no need to invoke a psychological principle to explain something that thermodynamics can explain, and from the point of view of a biologist, the idea of a universal death drive is not something that would have been selected for by natural selection. This, however, is not say that the death drive does not exist, only that some of Freud's justifications for his theory are ill-chosen. The clinical evidence, relating to masochism, and the link to repetition compulsion, however, does carry more weight.Freud, throughout, acknowledges that this theory is speculative, in accord with his lack of evidence. As is said, the more remarkable a theory, the more remarkable the evidence that is needed to support it. Here there is no remarkable evidence, which is partly why this remains Freud's most controversial work. If one is interested in the thought of Freud, and psychology, then this is worth reading, however it raises more questions than it answers, and does not help the understanding of psychology like his other works. If, however, the reader wants to be given a difficult problem to think about, then this book is ideal. A previous knowledge of Freud's works, for example the material in his first volume of Introductory Lectures, would be more or less essential before reading this.

[amydross · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

What a strange book! Not what I was expecting at all... Freud is not at his best, I think, when dabbling in pseudo-biology. Ultimately, the idea of a death instinct is more compelling than the argument as it appears here.

[bloom_3 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This little book is indubitable proof of the breadth and depth of Freud's thinking. It is a fascinating and multi-faceted read, containing elements of psychoanalysis, philosophy, poetry, biology, and the literary theory. You will not believe how quickly Freud is able to move from topic to topic and the absurd range within which he is able to speculate. This is also an extraordinarily challenging read, it requires patience and many re-readings. Freud discusses the compulsion to repeat, transference neurosis, life and death drives, and a number of other cognitive and behavioral topics.Here is a curious quote I adore: "In the last resort, what has left its mark on the development of organisms must be the history of the earth we live in and its relation to the sun" (pg. 45).Beyond the Pleasure Principle is a seminal component of his expansive corpus, and should be standard reading for psychologists.