Posted by alexandra_k on January 17, 2006, at 16:20:01
In reply to Re: Eros and Thanatos » alexandra_k, posted by James K on January 17, 2006, at 11:29:50
Hey. No problem.
I liked your poem :-)I’m having a little trouble understanding it myself… At this point I suppose I’m aiming for a general overview of what psychoanalysts (fairly generally speaking) believe about the structure of mind. To this end they employ theoretical terms like ‘life instinct’, ‘death instinct’, ‘conscious’, ‘unconscious’, ‘preconscious’, ‘id’, ‘ego’, ‘superego’ etc. These structures are supposed to interact in various ways. So understanding the theory is a matter of understanding something of what each term is supposed to mean / refer to (what is each structure about?) and understanding something of the role that each term plays in the structure of the theory (how does the structure interact with other structures?). But each theoretical term… Is a concept that you need to acquire… And that can be hard going, yes. At the moment I’m aiming for a fairly minimalist description of each theoretical term so as to build up the general picture fairly swiftly and not to get too lost in the trees. After seeing the general shape of the woods we can go back and consider the nature / function of each structure in more detail if people would like. At this point I’m thinking… You just kind of need to go along with the structures they posit (in order to be able to see the woods) and I suppose we will see where we end up…
I was trying to summarize through selective quotation, but maybe I can do a little better than that...
Two drives / instincts (that seek reduction in tension):
EROS – (aka ‘life instinct’ aka ‘libido’) functions to motivate interpersonal relationships, sex, reproduction, survival)
THANATOS – (aka ‘death instinct’) functions to motivate ‘the release of tension forever (ie by death).
Melanie Klein replaces the ‘death instinct’ with a ‘destructive instinct’.
But still two drives...
The role of these drives in the theory is that they are supposed to provide the energy / motivation for mental activity and hence the energy / motivation for the mental structures (id, ego, and superego I’m guessing at this point). Just how they function to do that is coming up next (conscious, preconscious, unconscious).
poster:alexandra_k
thread:599901
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20060110/msgs/600020.html