Beyond the Pleasure Principle

Beyond the Pleasure Principle
Author	Sigmund Freud
Original title	Jenseits des Lustprinzips
Country	Germany
Language	German
Publication date	1920

Beyond the Pleasure Principle (German: Jenseits des Lustprinzips) is a 1920 essay by Sigmund Freud. It marks a major turning point in the formulation of his drive theory, where Freud had previously attributed self-preservation in human behavior to the drives of Eros and the regulation of libido, governed by the pleasure principle. Revising this as inconclusive, Freud theorized beyond the pleasure principle, newly considering the death drives^[1] (or Thanatos, the Greek personification of death^{[citation needed]}) which refers to the tendency towards destruction and annihilation, often expressed through behaviors such as aggression, repetition compulsion, and self-destructiveness.^[2]

^ Freud used the plural "death drives" (Todestriebe) more often than in the singular.
^ Eric Berne, What Do You Say After You Say Hello? (London, 1975) pp. 399-400.

[1] Freud used the plural "death drives" (Todestriebe) more often than in the singular.

[2] Eric Berne, What Do You Say After You Say Hello? (London, 1975) pp. 399-400.

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