Pleasure principle: what is it?

There are moments when we feel happy. We feel that happiness overwhelms us. Above all, it is about those moments in which we feel that we have fulfilled what we wanted so much. All this could be associated with the pleasure principle.

To talk about the pleasure principle is to refer to one of the essential concepts of psychoanalytic theory. Sigmund Freud was the father of this current and who left us perhaps one of the richest reflections on this concept.

We invite you to join us to get to know it a little better. We will show you what it is about, because it goes beyond the sexual and what are the objections to the pleasure principle that Freud encountered throughout his clinical exploration.

What is the pleasure principle?

The pleasure principle is a concept that is part of the economic model of psychoanalysis, which is one that highlights a fact: we have forces that push us to seek a goal and that in the framework in which we are located are called drives.

Sigmund Freud emphasizes this concept in his book called Beyond the Pleasure Principle. It is about the search we do to satisfy our needs. In other words, the avoidance of what does not give us pleasure. Furthermore, through this principle balance would be sought to keep excitement to a minimum.

So, From the pleasure principle we would release tensions, because there is a discharge to be able to return to balance. Pleasure would be what causes this tension to reduce. The pleasure principle is closely related to the “it”, that is, our instinctive part. It is also related to the “ego” and the “superego”, but the id is the one that tries to unload to return to balance.

Pleasure principle beyond the sexual

We could think that the pleasure principle is closely related to sexuality. It may be present because some situations linked to sexuality involve the release of tensions. However, this is not always the case, the search for pleasure does not always involve sexuality. Pain is avoided so that it does not affect balance. For example, hunger and thirst would disrupt balance. Therefore, the reality principle acts.

So, This principle drives the satisfaction of all our needs. Furthermore, he does not act alone; It goes hand in hand with the reality principle and primary processes.

The reality principle is the one that regulates our appetites, that is, it makes it easier for us to postpone our needs and desires in favor of our survival. And, the primary processes are those unconscious matters that allow us to achieve the satisfaction of our desires; An example would be dreams.

Objections to the pleasure principle

The pleasure principle also has to do with the constancy principle; That is, the one that helps our psychic apparatus maintain the amount of excitement at a low level or as constant as possible. However, During his clinical practice Sigmund Freud formulated some objections to the pleasure principle, Let’s look at some of them:

Reality principle. Because as we mature psychically we begin to understand that not all pleasures can be followed, and that is why sometimes we have to postpone them, transform them or not fulfill them.War neuroses and nightmares. Freud realized that these were not the fulfillment of a wish, but rather a way for the person who has not experienced anxiety to do so, for example, through dreams.Repetition compulsion. That is, reliving what is not pleasant, instead of avoiding it. The person would do this through the psychic symptom.Game for da. It is a game through which the child comes to elaborate on sudden maternal absences, an event that he previously experienced passively.

Now, Freud realized this and expressed it in Beyond the Pleasure Principle, that there must be something beyond the pleasure principle. Then, he suggested the life drives, which are those that go hand in hand with self-preservation. And, what is beyond these drives that are associated with destruction, what he called the death drive.

The pleasure principle is necessary for our survival, Well, it is in tune with it, but we would be nothing without the other associated mechanisms. Therefore, although it seeks the satisfaction of our needs and desires, there are other principles, such as reality, that help ensure that this is not always the case.

You might be interested…