"Beyond the Pleasure Principle"

Paper Summary:

In "Beyond the Pleasure Principle", Freud presents his theory of the opposition between the death instinct (Thanatos) and the life instinct (Eros). Included in this examination and summary of Freud?s theory is the discussion of the role of the repetition compulsion, of the sexual instincts, and of binding.

From the Paper:

"Freud primarily sees our compulsion and drive to repeat as present in the death instinct, which pushes also towards repetition, but for the continual repetition of the same. He claims the "hypothesis that all instincts tend towards the restoration of an earlier state of things" (Freud, 1961, 44), and that "the aim of all life is death" (Freud, 1961, 46). He seems to find validity in this hypothesis by claiming, "inanimate things existed before living ones" (Freud, 1961, 46). The pleasure principle, Freud explains, is at the heart of wanting to return to nothingness, as we are constantly seeking to reduce the amount of tension in our lives, which is "an avoidance of unpleasure or a production of pleasure" (1961, 3).?

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