Status
Available
Call number
Publication
W. W. Norton & Company (1990), Edition: The Standard Edition, Paperback, 144 pages
Description
Beyond the Pleasure Principleis Freud's most philosophical and speculative work, exploring profound questions of life and death, pleasure and pain. In it Freud introduces the fundamental concepts of the "repetition compulsion" and the "death drive," according to which a perverse, repetitive, self-destructive impulse opposes and even trumps the creative drive, or Eros. The work is one of Freud's most intensely debated, and raises important questions that have been discussed by philosophers and psychoanalysts since its first publication in 1920. The text is presented here in a contemporary new translation by Gregory C. Richter. Appendices trace the work's antecedents and the many responses to it, including texts by Plato, Friedrich Nietzsche, Melanie Klein, Herbert Marcuse, Jacques Derrida, and Judith Butler, among many others.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member dczapka
Freud is a pretty polarizing figure in academia, so it's not surprising that Beyond the Pleasure Principle is a fairly contentious work. Yet, in contrast to a great deal of what Freud wrote before this, there is a great deal of contrition, and much room for doubt. Which was, in my eyes, a good
The notion of a death instinct is a radical and fascinating notion, but I don't feel that he defends it in the most reasonable way possible, though his assertion that instinct may lead not towards evolution but rather towards regression is surprisingly well-defended and has consequences that are interesting to consider. However, while Freud admits that much of what he reasons may be off the mark (even though he defends those assertions with apparent biological proof, some of which is admittedly borderline non sequitur), it is his willingness to amend his previous theories and to speculate adventurously that should be his most recognized legacy.
To that end, this book is a fine look at a mind at work. To consider this as an accurate landmark in psychological studies, however, may be too great a leap.
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thing, seeing as much of what he argues is tenuous at best.The notion of a death instinct is a radical and fascinating notion, but I don't feel that he defends it in the most reasonable way possible, though his assertion that instinct may lead not towards evolution but rather towards regression is surprisingly well-defended and has consequences that are interesting to consider. However, while Freud admits that much of what he reasons may be off the mark (even though he defends those assertions with apparent biological proof, some of which is admittedly borderline non sequitur), it is his willingness to amend his previous theories and to speculate adventurously that should be his most recognized legacy.
To that end, this book is a fine look at a mind at work. To consider this as an accurate landmark in psychological studies, however, may be too great a leap.
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LibraryThing member bloom
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
Beyond the Pleasure Principle is a seminal component of his expansive corpus, and should be standard reading for psychologists.
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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.
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LibraryThing member P_S_Patrick
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
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.
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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.
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LibraryThing member jenladuca
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
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**
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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**
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LibraryThing member yonderboy777
I bought this because I was interested in learning about Freud's theory of the "Death Drive," humans' paradoxical longing for self-destruction. Though he has fallen from grace in the eyes of the contemporary psychological community, I think Freud was genuinely one of the world's true geniuses, and
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his ideas deserve a second look. He had some truly profound insights into human nature, but I think he and his followers took them too literally. Viewed as metaphors, there's some profound truth in classic psychoanalytic theory. Show Less
LibraryThing member amydross
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.
Language
Original publication date
1920
Physical description
144 p.; 6.8 inches
ISBN
0393007693 / 9780393007695