Death drive

In classical Freudian psychoanalytic theory, the death drive (German: Todestrieb) is the drive toward death and destruction, often expressed through behaviors such as aggression, repetition compulsion, and self-destructiveness.^[1]^[2] It was originally proposed by Sabina Spielrein in her paper "Destruction as the Cause of Coming Into Being"^[3]^[4] (Die Destruktion als Ursache des Werdens)^[5] in 1912, which was then taken up by Sigmund Freud in 1920 in Beyond the Pleasure Principle. This concept has been translated as "opposition between the ego or death instincts and the sexual or life instincts".^[6] In Beyond the Pleasure Principle, Freud used the plural "death drives" (Todestriebe) much more frequently than the singular.^[7]

The death drive opposes Eros, the tendency toward survival, propagation, sex, and other creative, life-producing drives. The death drive is sometimes referred to as "Thanatos" in post-Freudian thought, complementing "Eros", although this term was not used in Freud's own work, being rather introduced by Wilhelm Stekel in 1909 and then by Paul Federn in the present context.^[8]^[9] Subsequent psychoanalysts such as Jacques Lacan and Melanie Klein have defended the concept.

^ Eric Berne, What Do You say After You Say Hello? (London, 1975) pp. 399–400.
^ Cite error: The named reference Segal was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Spielrein, Sabina (April 1994). "Destruction as the Cause of Coming Into Being". Journal of Analytical Psychology. 39 (2): 155–186. doi:10.1111/j.1465-5922.1994.00155.x. Free pdf of the full essay Archived 2016-03-06 at the Wayback Machine by the Arizona Psychoanalytic Society.
^ Spielrein, Sabina (1995). "Destruction as Cause of Becoming". Psychoanalysis and Contemporary Thought. 18 (1): 85–118.
^ Spielrein, Sabina (1912). "Die Destruktion als Ursache des Werdens". Jahrbuch für Psychoanalytische und Psychopathologische Forschungen (in German). IV: 465–503.
^ Sigmund Freud, "Beyond the Pleasure Principle" in On Metapsychology (Middlesex 1987), p. 316.
^ See occurrences of "death drives" and of "death drive".
^ Jones, Ernest (1957) [1953]. The Life and Work of Sigmund Freud. Volume 3. New York City: Basic Books. p. 273. It is a little odd that Freud himself never, except in conversation, used for the death instinct the term Thanatos, one which has become so popular since. At first he used the terms "death instinct" and "destructive instinct" indiscriminately, alternating between them, but in his discussion with Einstein about war he made the distinction that the former is directed against the self and the latter, derived from it, is directed outward. Stekel had in 1909 used the word Thanatos to signify a death-wish, but it was Federn who introduced it in the present context.
^ Laplanche, Jean; Pontalis, Jean-Bertrand (2018) [1973]. "Thanatos". The Language of Psychoanalysis. Abingdon-on-Thames: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-429-92124-7.^{[permanent dead link]}

[Eric_Berne_1975_pp._399-400-1] Eric Berne, What Do You say After You Say Hello? (London, 1975) pp. 399–400.

[Segal-2] Cite error: The named reference Segal was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[3] Spielrein, Sabina (April 1994). "Destruction as the Cause of Coming Into Being". Journal of Analytical Psychology. 39 (2): 155–186. doi:10.1111/j.1465-5922.1994.00155.x. Free pdf of the full essay Archived 2016-03-06 at the Wayback Machine by the Arizona Psychoanalytic Society.

[4] Spielrein, Sabina (1995). "Destruction as Cause of Becoming". Psychoanalysis and Contemporary Thought. 18 (1): 85–118.

[5] Spielrein, Sabina (1912). "Die Destruktion als Ursache des Werdens". Jahrbuch für Psychoanalytische und Psychopathologische Forschungen (in German). IV: 465–503.

[6] Sigmund Freud, "Beyond the Pleasure Principle" in On Metapsychology (Middlesex 1987), p. 316.

[7] See occurrences of "death drives" and of "death drive".

[8] Jones, Ernest (1957) [1953]. The Life and Work of Sigmund Freud. Volume 3. New York City: Basic Books. p. 273. It is a little odd that Freud himself never, except in conversation, used for the death instinct the term Thanatos, one which has become so popular since. At first he used the terms "death instinct" and "destructive instinct" indiscriminately, alternating between them, but in his discussion with Einstein about war he made the distinction that the former is directed against the self and the latter, derived from it, is directed outward. Stekel had in 1909 used the word Thanatos to signify a death-wish, but it was Federn who introduced it in the present context.

[9] Laplanche, Jean; Pontalis, Jean-Bertrand (2018) [1973]. "Thanatos". The Language of Psychoanalysis. Abingdon-on-Thames: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-429-92124-7.^{[permanent dead link]}

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