Beyond the Pleasure Principle

Freud begins his rhetorical argument with a confident affirmation of his early theories. In this opening section, he seeks to establish his prior theories as true so that he can build upon them. He begins with an assumption: “In the theory of psycho-analysis we have no hesitation in assuming that the course taken by mental events is automatically regulated by the pleasure principle” (7). Establishing the pleasure principle as a given is important to the development of his later arguments that explore how the pleasure principle works in balance—and in conflict—with the reality principle. 

However, it is important to note that the notion of the pleasure principle was not widely accepted as a given when Freud published the work. Freud was highly influential in the medical world, and he had many devotees. However, a small group of psychoanalysts who worked closely with Freud were critical of what they believed was Freud’s narrow focus on sexual libido and the pleasure principle. Just a few years before Beyond the Pleasure Principle was published, Freud had split with his friend and contemporary Carl Gustav Jung, who criticized the pleasure principle as overly focused on sexual libido. Jung asserted that Freud’s obsession with the role of libido in the psyche hinted at a personal trauma that Freud was unwilling to explore or divulge. Another friend and colleague, Alfred Adler, broke with Freud in 1911, arguing that social drive far outweighed Freud’s theory of the pleasure principle. 

Freud’s assertion that the pleasure principle is an accepted theory is necessary to extend his argument and develop his theories, but it is also a response to his contemporaries who seek to discredit his work. He argues that the pleasure principle is fact because it has been proven repeatedly through his observational work as a psychoanalyst. These critiques of Freud’s work contrast with his confident assertion that his theories about libido and the pleasure principle were accepted forms of knowledge in psychoanalysis.

While Freud maintains the pleasure principle, the expansion of his theory in this essay may also reflect the influence of this criticism over his theoretical work. Later in his essay, Freud will establish that other drives impact the id and are moderated by the ego, such as the death drive. The Moderation of Pleasure and Reality is represented by this constant seeking for balance by the psyche through psychic economy. In this section, he hints at this possibility: “Nevertheless the investigation of the mental reaction to external danger is precisely in a position to produce new material and raise fresh questions bearing upon our present problem” (11). Freud notes that people often turn toward unpleasurable activities and experiences, even choosing to repeat them, willingly placing themselves in a position of perceived danger. He suggests that this reveals the possibility of another driving force contained in the id which juxtaposes the pleasure principle. 

By emphasizing the psyche’s need for balance, Freud establishes the basis for the death drive. He views the internal workings of the mind as a constant quest for equilibrium. Later in his work, he expands this idea further by exploring how equilibrium plays a role in all mental processes—including the need to return to an inorganic state.