Beyond the Pleasure Principle

This short work by world-renowned psychologist Sigmund Freud marks a major turning point in the author's theoretical approach. Prior to this work Freud's examination of the forces that drive man focused primarily on the "Eros" of man, the life instinct innate in all humans. In "Beyond the Pleasure Principle" Freud moves beyond these creative and pleasure-seeking impulses to discuss the impact on human psychology of the "Thanatos," or death instinct, which Freud describes as "an urge inherent in all organic life to restore an earlier state of things."