Beyond the Pleasure Principle

Published in 1920, Beyond the Pleasure Principle marked a turning point for Freud, and a major modification of his previous theoretical approach. Before this essay, Freud was understood to have placed the sexual instinct, Eros, or the Libido, centre stage, in explaining the forces which drive us to act. In 1920, going "beyond" the simple Pleasure principle, Freud developed his theory of the drives, by adding Thanatos, or the Death Instinct. Eros can refer to: Eros, a god in Greek mythology The Greek word Eros, which means sexual love 433 Eros, an asteroid EROS, the Extremely Reliable Operating System Pjur Eros, a premium latex-safe personal lubricant Eros, the life instinct postulated by Freudian psychology, standing in opposition to Thanatos The... Libido in its common usage means sexual desire, however more technical definitions, such as found in the work of Carl Jung, are more general, referring to libido as the free creative, or psychic, energy an individual has to put toward personal development, or individuation. ... In Greek mythology, Thanatos (θάνατος, death) was the personification of death (Roman equivalent: Mors). ...

The essay tackles how the process which causes cell death at a microscopic level, might have developed to give human beings a death instinct as individuals. These scientific sections of the essay (Sections IV and V) are now discredited, but the strength and influence of the work lie not in these quasi-technical sections.

Rather, the importance of the essay resides in the striking picture of human being, struggling between two opposing instincts or drives. Eros or the Libido, working for creativity, harmony, sexual connection, reproduction, self-preservation; Thanatos or the Death Drive, for destruction, repetition, aggression, compulsion, self-destruction. Eros can refer to: Eros, a god in Greek mythology The Greek word Eros, which means sexual love 433 Eros, an asteroid EROS, the Extremely Reliable Operating System Pjur Eros, a premium latex-safe personal lubricant Eros, the life instinct postulated by Freudian psychology, standing in opposition to Thanatos The... Libido in its common usage means sexual desire, however more technical definitions, such as found in the work of Carl Jung, are more general, referring to libido as the free creative, or psychic, energy an individual has to put toward personal development, or individuation. ... In Greek mythology, Thanatos (θάνατος, death) was the personification of death (Roman equivalent: Mors). ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Thanatos (Freud). ...

Freud also took the opportunity to state the basic differences, as he saw them, between his approach and that of Carl Jung, and also covered the history so far of research into the basic drives (Section VI). Carl Gustav Jung (July 26, 1875 – June 6, 1961) (IPA:) was a Swiss psychiatrist and founder of Analytical Psychology. ...