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Freud on the Death Drive as Existence without Tension

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Download Brian_O'Connor_-_Freud_on_the_Death_Drive_as_Tensionless_Existence.pdf382.42 KB
Author(s)
O'Connor, Brian 
Uri
http://hdl.handle.net/10197/9291
Date Issued
June 2016
Date Available
21T12:45:46Z March 2018
Abstract
Freud's notion of the death drive is complex and arguably ambiguous. This paper, however, proposes that Freud's thoughts on our organic dynamic towards tensionlessness provide us with a cohesive path through the diverse characteristics that are attributed to the death drive. The paper shows that Freud is interested in giving expression to a kind of disavowal of personhood that may present itself symptomatically. A tensionless state can be gained by a dynamic release of the individual from the pressures of the ego. This study critically sets out the line of analysis that brought Freud, in Beyond the Pleasure Principle, to introduce the notion of the death drive. The main work of the paper is to examine the meaning of the very idea of death as tensionlessness. A central contention will be that death has a figurative meaning when it is discussed in that context: it is the death of the ego. The idea of death as tensionlessness will be employed to explore a number of clinical interpretations of the relationship between the death drive and neurotic guilt and envy.
Type of Material
Journal Article
Publisher
Guilford Press
Journal
Psychoanalytic Review
Volume
103
Issue
3
Start Page
423
End Page
443
Copyright (Published Version)
2016 Guilford Press
Subject – LCSH
Freud, Sigmund, 1856-1939
Jenseits des Lustprinzips. English
DOI
10.1521/prev.2016.103.3.423
Language
English
Status of Item
Peer reviewed
This item is made available under a Creative Commons License
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/ie/
Owning collection
Philosophy Research Collection
Scopus© citations
2
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Feb 5, 2023
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