Artificial Intelligence on The Couch. Staying Human Post-AI.

This paper examines the human relationship to technology, and AI in particular, including the proposition that algorithms are the new unconscious. Key is the question of how much human ability will be duplicated and transcended by general machine intelligence. More and more people are seeking connection via social media and interaction with artificial beings. The paper examines what it means to be human and which of these traits are already or will be replicated by AI. Therapy bots already exist. It is easier to envision AI therapy guided by CBT manuals than psychoanalytic techniques. Yet, a demonstration of how AI can already perform dream analysis reaching beyond a dream's manifest content is presented. The reader is left to consider whether these findings demand a new role for psychoanalysis in supporting, sustaining, and reframing our humanity as we create technology that transcends our abilities.

Inhibition.

This article explores the notion of inhibition at a theoretical and clinical level in psychoanalysis. The first part follows the development of the notion in Freud's work, from the "Project" (1950a [1895]) to Inhibitions, Symptoms and Anxiety (1926d). It identifies the two approaches to inhibition, the first from an energetic point of view, the second from the angle of its relations to anxiety. The second part of the article is devoted to the links between inhibition and Freud's thoughts about death, in particular in Inhibitions, Symptoms and Anxiety and the links to the death drive. It draws on some of Jones' notes and presents a brief clinical illustration. The third part focuses more particularly on general inhibition, especially in depression and melancholia. Based on the treatment of one patient, the author shows how the slow process of overcoming general inhibition is achieved through the gradual use of negation. From an economic point of view, it is suggested that psychoanalytic treatment, through the transference and associative speech, has an effect on the depletion of energy by diverting the "suction" of stimuli, paving the way for the formation of drive representatives, or inhibitions as symptoms, which will need to be dissected.

Was It Just a Dream? Aging and Dreaming the Psychoanalytic Process.

By revisiting the last years of a long psychoanalytic treatment of a female patient, a psychoanalyst reflects on her own development as a clinician and on the changes in her experience of psychoanalytic generativity. An increasing ability to understand patient's shifts between creativity and destructiveness brings about a different understanding of the process of mourning, while the shared aging of the analytic dyad highlights the difficulty of ending an analysis that has become a way of life.

The Ego and the Id: Concepts and developments.

In this note I have limited myself to describing some convergent and divergent developments arising from the innovative concepts present in The Ego and the Id. It could be argued that a part of the psychoanalytic movement wished to emphasize the function of the Ego (Anna Freud, Hartmann, Rapaport), while another part (Melanie Klein and her followers) delved into the dynamics of the Superego and the Id in primitive and pathological states of mind. I will examine three themes presents in The Ego and the Id: the assertion that a part of the Ego is unconscious; the idea that the death drive becomes part of the dynamics of melancholia and its Superego; the concept of fusion and defusion of the life and death instinct. Freud's writing represents a forge of new ideas that have made psychoanalysis ever more creative and capable of understanding the complexity and mysteriousness of the human mind.

Desexualization: An interesting problem in The Ego and the Id.

The sudden appearance of the term "desexualization" in The Ego and the Id is considered as a marker of the subtle, almost unnoticeable changes that occurred in Freud's thinking after 1920. The strict dichotomy between life and death drives posed a series of new problems that force Freud to invoke a "desexualized libido" in order to restore some fluidity in the psychic apparatus. But the mechanism of desexualization was difficult to describe and Freud seems to resort to a circular explanation. In the end, the restored dialectics between Eros and the death drive, thanks to desexualization, force Freud to invoke a split in the ego itself.

Pulsão de Morte e Sublimação: A (Re)invenção da Vida nas Dobras da Racionalidade Técnico-Científica / Death Drive and Sublimation: The (Re)invention of Life in the Folds of Technical-Scientific Rationality / Pulsión de Muerte y Sublimación: (Re)invención de la Vida en las Doblas de la Técnica

O advento das biotecnologias no mundo contemporâneo, em particular das Novas Tecnologias Reprodutivas (NTR's), liberando a sexualidade dos antigos imperativos da procriação, nos oferece uma prova contundente da abertura ilimitada da vida à transformação das condições em que as normas vitais engajam os organismos no processo de individuação. Mais do que isso, evidencia o caráter essencialmente contingente da ligação entre vida, morte e sexualidade. O objetivo deste trabalho é examinar a fecundidade da concepção freudiana de sublimação - lida sob o registro das transformações que a ela se impõem com o advento do conceito de pulsão de morte (1920) - em subsidiar uma reflexão ética e política acerca dos efeitos da incidência das Novas Tecnologias Reprodutivas (NTR's) nos campos da reprodução, da sexualidade e do laço social. Nossa hipótese é a de que o fenômeno das biotecnologias desvela, sob a cobertura do temor, tão frequentemente evocado por alguns de nossos contemporâneos, de dilapidação das instituições e dos modos de vida sobre os quais acreditávamos poder fundar nossa fantasmática "humanidade", a infinita potência da vida em recriar-se diante d'isso que quer destruí-la.

The advent of biotechnologies in the contemporary world, particularly New Reproductive Technologies (NTRs), freeing sexuality from the old imperatives of procreation, offers us overwhelming proof of the unlimited opening up of life to the transformation of conditions in which vital norms engage the organisms in the individuation process. Even more so, it highlights the essentially contingent character of the connection between life, death, and sexuality. The aim of this study is, therefore, to examine the fruitfulness of the Freudian conception of sublimation, read under the register of the transformations imposed upon this notion with the advent of the death drive concept (1920), in subsidizing an ethical and political reflection on the effects of the incidence of NTRs in the reproduction, sexuality and social bond fields. Our hypothesis is that the biotechnologies phenomenon reveals, under the cover of fear, so often evoked by some of our contemporaries, of institutional dilapidation and ways of life in which we believed we could establish our fantastic "humanity", the infinite life's power to recreate itself in the face of that which wants to destroy it.

La llegada de las biotecnologías en el mundo contemporáneo, en particular de las Nuevas Tecnologías Reproductivas (NTR's), liberando la sexualidad de los imperativos de la procreación, nos ofrece una prueba contundente de la abertura ilimitada de la vida a la transformación de las condiciones en que las normas vitales capacitan el organismo a la individuación. Más allá de eso, se evidencia el carácter esencialmente contingente de la ligación entre vida, muerte y sexualidad. El objetivo de este estudio es examinar la fecundidad de la concepción freudiana de sublimación - leída bajo el registro de las transformaciones que a ella se imponen con la llegada del concepto de pulsión de muerte (1920) - en subsidiar una reflexión ética y política acerca de los efectos de la incidencia de las Nuevas Tecnologías Reproductivas (NTR's) en los campos de la reproducción, de la sexualidad y del lazo social. Nuestra hipótesis es que el fenómeno de las biotecnologías desvela, bajo la cobertura del temor, tan frecuentemente evocado por algunos de nuestros contemporáneos, de dilapidación de las instituciones y de los modos de vida sobre los cuales creíamos poder fundar nuestra fantasmática "humanidad", la infinita potencia de la vida en recrearse de ante d'eso que quiere destruirla.

Ferenczi's variations on the death drive.

This theoretical paper discusses three variations on the death drive, developed by Sándor Ferenczi. We present a brief history of the use of the term death drive among the first psychoanalysts and argue that, as early as 1913, the notion is used by Ferenczi and serves as a conceptual background for his thinking. During the 1920s, Ferenczi revisits part of this concept, focusing on what he identifies as a primacy of self-destruction. The destructive drive gains an adaptive character responsible for the mortification of parts of the individual, in exchange for the survival of the whole. In this variation, the tendency to regress also arises as the self-destruction drive and the acceptance of unpleasure involves a psychic "reckoning-machine." In the final variation, left unfinished, the death drive at times receives new names, like drive for "conciliation," and at others, the very idea of the death drive is criticized.

An Accident With the Death Drive and Its Working Through in the Analyst's Countertransference.

Working through the different faces and vicissitudes of the death drive in the countertransference, and especially through projective identification, is a very challenging process. A thorough and versatile process of containment and working through of the manifold threatening expressions and influences of the death drive is required, experienced most specifically and deeply in the arena of projective identification. This paper demonstrates how each aspect that unfolds in the analyst's countertransference sheds light on a particular layer of anxiety and internal object relations related to it. The creation of a new meaning to the differing expressions of the death drive gradually lessens the compulsion to repeat and enables a better integration between the life and death drives. This process will be illustrated by a prolonged clinical case that involved intense internal working through of the death drive in the analyst's countertransference.

On brutal gestures: trauma, destruction, and forms of mental illness.

The Bohemian writer Milan Kundera narrates, more than once, an experience from his years of life under an authoritarian regime. It is the memory of a violent fantasy of rape, one in which libido and destruction are mingled. Based on this memory and how he wrote about it, we present two forms of mental illnesses (by activation and by passivation) and relate them to the model proposed by Green to think about depressive states through passivation. The first form of mental illness, by activation, is the result of an overly successful active defense against anxiety. The second form, by passivation, is a paradoxical reaction to agony in the face of deadly psychic states. Arguing that this second form of mental illness is frequently identified in individuals during periods of political change, we consider that the intricacy between the drives of destruction and the libido, even when it generates fantasies or brutal gestures, can reveal itself as an episodic attempt of an active defense amid the predominance of passivation generated by post-traumatic helplessness.

To and Fro Between Eros and Thanatos: What Where and the Death Drive.

This paper tries to read What Where as Beckett's realistic and pessimistic presentation of the ontological conditions of the human history, which the play defines as investigation, exploitation and quest for the ultimate truth. Its analysis finds that this presentation has important threads in common with the criticism of civilization in the later Freud's metapsychology, which formulated "an all-embracing, grand theory of the psyche" in terms of the development of the individual as well as the evolution of the entire species on the basis of the maxim that "ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny" What Where enacts this Freudian vision in theatrical terms as its theater version foregrounds the phylogenetic scale with the physical subjections happening among the characters and its television version the interior depth of the mind with the maneuvering of the television images. Another important commonality is that the character Bam is presented as a figure pertaining to Freud's concept of the death drive. The resulting theatrical picture is a sobering and realistic testimony to the individual and collective human existence that has always survived on questionings about, exploitation of and quest for a different object. This strikes a chord with how Beckett's characters embody his poetics of 'senility,' and leads to the political implications of freedom without hope or meaning, which is the infinite task of Beckett's senile characters.

Neiko-erotic: contemporary erotic literature in the light of Freudian psychoanalysis / Neiko-erótica: a literatura erótica contemporânea à luz da psicanálise freudiana

RESUMO: Este texto objetiva apresentar uma leitura da literatura erótica contemporânea a partir da teoria psicanalítica de Sigmund Freud. Percorrendo a história da escrita feminina e da literatura erótica, verifica-se o surgimento da chamada literatura erótica contemporânea. Entre as características desse gênero, destaca-se o cenário das tramas eróticas que torna central um eixo sombrio no qual gravita a sexualidade das personagens que, à luz da teoria freudiana, pode ser lida como um caráter disruptivo, característica fundamental das relações amorosas. Nesse viés, para que a erótica se valha como tal, torna-se necessária a presença de um traço discordante que nomeamos de neiko-erótico.

ABSTRACT: This text aims to present a reading of contemporary erotic literature based on Freud's psychoanalytic theory. Going through the history of women's writing and erotic literature, we can see the emergence of the so-called contemporary erotic literature. Among the characteristics of this genre, the setting of erotic plots stands out, which makes central a dark axis in which the sexuality of the characters gravitates which, in the light of Freudian theory, can be read as the disruptive character, a fundamental characteristic of love relationships. In this bias, for eroticism to be valid as such, the presence of a discordant trait that we call neiko-erotic is necessary.

The work of Benno Rosenberg.

Benno Rosenberg's work has been little translated into English. Yet, his work on masochism is a landmark in France. He set himself the goal of deploying all the richness and implications of the second Freudian drive theory and the introduction of the death drive. He therefore returns to "the Economic Problem of Masochism" to give all its value to the drive fusion that it achieves internally and which is therefore for it "guardian of life", even if it is can also be fatal. He draws consequences on the psychic construction of the ego, the superego and on that of temporality. He also describes a "work of melancholy" which is different from mourning. Thinking it necessary to push the consequences of the new theorizing further than Freud was able to do, he revisits "Inhibition, Symptom and Anxiety" to articulate the triggering of anxiety by a libidinal demand and the threat to the unity of the ego who comes from the death drive due to conflict. Starting from the psychosomatic descriptions of Pierre Marty, whose options are specified, he also proposed a metapsychology of somatization during the overflow of the psyche by the destructiveness which will then threaten the body.

"Death drive" scientifically reconsidered: Not a drive but a collection of trauma-induced auto-addictive diseases.

Over the last 102 years, a lot of discussion was being held about the psychoanalytic conception of the "death drive," but still with inconclusive results. In this paper, we start with a brief review of Freud's conception, followed by a comprised overview of its subsequent support or criticisms. The core of our argument is a systematic review of current biochemical research about two proposed manifestations of the "death drive," which could hopefully move the discussion to the realm of science. It was already established that drive satisfaction leads to the secretion of beta-endorphins, and research evidence also shows that the same biochemical mechanisms get activated in the case of masochism and the gambling disorder but only if they are preceded by chronic frustration of the essential drives. We conclude that the actual situation is more complex than Freud hypothesized, and that a fundamental revision of the psychoanalytic drive theory is necessary.

A pulsão de morte na perspectiva de Otto Kernberg / The death drive according to Otto Kernberg / La pulsion de mort selon Otto Kernberg / La pulsión de muerte en la perspectiva de Otto Kernberg

O psicanalista vienense Otto Kernberg repensou o conceito de pulsão de morte a partir de novos conhecimentos da área de neurobiologia e a partir da investigação de quadros psicopatológicos graves, pouco abordados por Freud. Ele reconheceu que os fenômenos elencados por Freud para sustentar a ideia de pulsão de morte, de fato, demonstram a presença de uma tendência autodestrutiva dominante, mas sustentou que essa tendência resulta de uma transformação maligna da agressão, decorrente de fatores constitucionais e relacionais, e não de uma tendência inata do psiquismo. O objetivo deste artigo é retomar alguns pontos problemáticos da teoria freudiana do segundo dualismo pulsional e procurar mostrar que a perspectiva de Kernberg permite escapar de certos impasses presentes nessa teoria.

Resumos Based on new discoveries in the field of neurobiology and on his own research on severe psychopathological conditions mostly unaddressed by Freud, the Viennese psychoanalyst Otto Kernberg redefined the death drive concept. Despite acknowledging that the phenomena referred to by Freud refers as supporting the idea of a death drive reveal the existence of a dominant self-destructive tendency, Kernberg maintains that such tendency results from a malignant transformation of aggression due to constitutional and relational factors, rather than from an innate feature of the mind. This paper seeks to reassess some problematic points of Freud's second drive theory and argue that Kernberg's perspective allows to avoid some of its main stalemates.

S'appuyant sur de nouvelles découvertes dans le domaine de la neurobiologie et sur ses propres investigations de tableaux psychopathologiques sévères, pour la plupart non abordés par Freud, le psychanalyste viennois Otto Kernberg a redéfini le concept de pulsion de mort. Toute en reconnaisant que les phénomènes énumérés par Freud pour soutenir l'idée de pulsion de mort révèlent l'existence d'une tendance dominante à l'autodestruction, Kernberg soutient que cette tendance résulte d'une transformation maligne de l'agressivité due à des facteurs constitutionnels et relationnels, plutôt que d'une caractéristique innée du psychisme. Cet article cherche à reprendre certains points problématiques de la théorie freudienne du second dualisme pulsionnel et soutient que la perspective de Kernberg permet d'échapper à certaines de ces impasses.

El psicoanalista vienés Otto Kernberg replanteó el concepto de pulsión de muerte, a partir de nuevos conocimientos del área neurobiológica y de la investigación de cuadros psicopatológicos graves, poco abordados por Freud. Reconoce que los fenómenos enumerados por Freud para apoyar la idea de la pulsión de muerte, de hecho, demuestran la presencia de una tendencia autodestructiva dominante, pero sostiene que esta tendencia resulta de una transformación maligna de la agresión, resultante de factores constitucionales y relacionales, y no de una tendencia innata del psiquismo. El objetivo de este artículo es retomar algunos puntos problemáticos de la teoría freudiana del segundo dualismo pulsional y mostrar que la perspectiva de Kernberg permite salir de ciertos impasses presentes en esta teoría.

The correspondence between Albert Einstein and Sigmund Freud in "Why War" and the socio-political perspective of Alfred Adler.

This paper discusses the correspondence between Albert Einstein and Sigmund Freud, published in the Standard Edition of Freud's writings under the title of "Why War". Freud's answers to some of Einstein's questions are compared to Alfred Adler's ideas on the role of "striving for power" versus "community feeling" and the role of these two forces in the development of war. Adler had begun to develop an object relations line of thinking in his early papers on the aggressive drive and the need for affection (Adler 1908a and 1908b). It is suggested that if Freud and Adler had been able to continue working together, they might have been able to bring their differing perspectives on the issue of war together to address both the role of power and loss of power, as well as the role of narcissistic defences in the development of war. As it is, this was left to later psychoanalytic thinkers, in particular the Kleinian analysts, who underlined the role of reverting to paranoid-schizoid thinking in the face of humiliation, rather than facing depression and the work of mourning. The work of mourning is illustrated using excerpts from Benjamin Britten's "War Requiem".

"Sentimento oceânico" e controle do fogo: ensaio sobre arte e política / "Oceanic feeling" and control over fire: an essay on art and politics

RESUMO: O presente artigo busca uma articulação entre a noção de "sentimento oceânico" e uma modalidade de laço social distinta da formação da massa e que se explicitaria privilegiadamente no campo da arte, na qual se desestabilizam as fronteiras entre indivíduos em prol de uma espécie de transmissão de desejo, sob o modo discursivo do conhecido sonho no qual o filho morto aparece ao pai e lhe pergunta "Pai, não vês que estou queimando?". O texto examina ainda, de modo inconclusivo, a possibilidade de tal estratégia discursiva caracterizada pela literalidade e indicialidade poder se constituir em uma força política contra o fascismo da massa.

ABSTRACT: This essay aims to investigate the relation between the notion of "oceanic feeling" and a type of social bond distinct from group formation and which would be made explicit singularly in the field of art, in which the boundaries between individuals are destabilized in favor of a kind of transmission of desire, under the discursive mode of the well-known dream in which the dead son appears to the father and asks him "Father, don't you see that I'm burning?". The paper also examines, inconclusively, the possibility that such a discursive strategy characterized by literality and indexicality could constitute a political force against group fascism.

O conceito de inconsciente na obra de Freud / Le concept d'inconscient dans l'œuvre de Freud / The concept of the unconscious in Freud's work

O artigo busca traçar a evolução conceitual do inconsciente na obra freudiana. Parte do estudo de textos escritos em três momentos da produção freudiana: período pré-psicanalítico, primeira tópica e segunda tópica. Tomou como referências básicas os seguintes textos: Sobre a concepção das Afasias: um estudo crítico (Freud,1891/2016), Carta à Fliess 112 [52] (Freud, 1896/2017), A interpretações dos sonhos (Freud, 1900/2019), Algumas observações sobre o conceito de inconsciente na psicanálise (Freud,1912/2010b); O inconsciente (Freud,1915/2010d); Além do princípio do prazer (Freud, 1920/2020) e O Eu e o Id (Freud, 1923/2011). Em textos anteriores ao nascimento da psicanálise (1900), Freud buscava uma formulação para o aparelho psíquico. Nesse momento, pensava-o como um aparelho de linguagem e de memória. A partir de 1900, Freud sistematiza o aparelho psíquico e o inconsciente passa a ser concebido, principalmente, como um sistema. Em 1915, em sua metapsicologia, destacam-se as três principais coordenadas para se pensar o inconsciente, correspondentes aos pontos de vista econômico, dinâmico e sistemático. Após 1920, ocorrem importantes mudanças na teoria psicanalítica, cujas consequências incidem sobre o conceito de inconsciente, ao se introduzir o conceito de pulsão de morte.

Cet article cherche à tracer l'évolution conceptuelle de l'inconscient dans l'œuvre freudienne. Elle est partie de l'étude de textes écrits à trois moments de la production freudienne : période pré-psychanalytique, premièrer topique et deuxième topique. Les textes suivants ont été pris comme références de base : Sur la conception des Aphasies : une étude critique. (Freud, 1891/2016); Lettre à Fliess 112 [52] (Freud, 1896/2017), L'interprétation des rêves (Freud, 1900/2019), Quelques observations sur le concept d'inconscient en psychanalyse (1912/2010b) ; L'inconscient (Freud, 1915/2010d) ; Au-delà du principe de plaisir (Freud, 1920/2020) et Le moi et le ça (Freud, 1923/2011). On a observé que dans les textes antérieurs à la naissance de la psychanalyse, vers 1900, Freud cherchait une formulation de l'appareil psychique. À ce moment-là, j'y ai pensé comme un dispositif de langage et de mémoire. A partir de 1900, Freud systématise l'appareil psychique et l'inconscient commence à être conçu, principalement, comme un système. En 1915, dans sa métapsychologie, ressortent les trois principales coordonnées pour penser l'inconscient, correspondant aux points de vue économique, dynamique et systématique. Après 1920, il y a eu des changements importants dans la théorie psychanalytique, dont les conséquences affectent le concept d'inconscient, lorsque le concept de pulsion de morta été introduit.

This article seeks to trace the conceptual evolution of the "Unconscious" in Freud's work. It started from the study of texts written in three moments of Freudian production: pre psychoanalytic period, first topic and second topic. The following texts were taken as basic references:On the conception of Aphasias: a critical study (Freud, 1891/2016); Letter to Fliess 112 [52] (Freud, 1896/2017), The interpretations of dreams (Freud, 1900/2019),Some observations on the concept of the unconscious in psychoanalysis (Freud, 1912/2010b); The unconscious (Freud, 1915/2010d); Beyond the Pleasure Principle (Freud,1920/2020) and The Ego and the Id (Freud, 1923/2011). It was observed that in texts prior to the birth of psychoanalysis, 1900, Freud sought a formulation for the psychic apparatus. At that moment, he thought of it as a language and memory device. From 1900 onwards, Freud systematized the psychic apparatus. From then on, the unconscious is mainly conceived as a system. In 1915, in his metapsychology, the three main coordinates for thinking about the unconscious stand out, corresponding to economic, dynamic and systematic points of view. After 1920, there were important changes in psychoanalytic theory, whose consequences affect the concept of the unconscious, when the concept of the death drive was introduced.

Luna, uma personalidade flagelada: relato e comentários sobre um caso clínico / Luna, a stricken personality: report and comments on a clinical case / Luna, una personalidad flagelada: informe y comentarios sobre un caso clínico / Luna, une personnalité flagellée: récit et commentaires concernant un cas clinique

A proposta deste trabalho é relatar e comentar uma experiência clínica na qual o estado mental invejoso, como manifestação externa da pulsão de morte, teve lugar de destaque. O fio condutor escolhido pela autora destaca o predomínio dos impulsos destrutivos, os quais, além de causarem muito sofrimento à analisanda, se manifestaram através de ataques ao vínculo psicanalítico. A autora conjectura que o malogro da continuidade da relação terapêutica decorreu da intolerância à dependência receptiva, uma vez que a ligação era experimentada como humilhação. Discorre sobre a implicância e a obscuridade do conceito de pulsão de morte, subjacente aos conceitos utilizados para a compreensão do caso.

The purpose of this paper is to report and comment on a clinical experience in which the envious mental state, as an external manifestation of the death drive, had a prominent place. The common thread chosen by the author highlighted the predominance of destructive impulses, which, in addition to causing much suffering to the analysand, manifested themselves through attacks on the psychoanalytic bond. She conjectured that the failure of the continuity of the therapeutic relationship was due to an intolerance to receptive dependence, since the connection was experienced as humiliation. The author commented on the implication and obscurity of the concept of death drive, underlying the concepts used to understand the case.

El propósito de este trabajo es informar y comentar una experiencia clínica en la que el estado mental envidioso, como manifestación externa de la pulsión de muerte, tuvo un lugar destacado. El hilo conductor elegido por el autor destacó el predominio de los impulsos destructivos, que además de causar mucho sufrimiento al analizando, se manifestaron a través de ataques al vínculo psicoanalítico. Conjeturó que el fracaso de la continuidad de la relación terapéutica se debía a una intolerancia a la dependencia receptiva, ya que la conexión se vivía como una humillación. La autora comentó sobre la implicación y oscuridad del concepto de pulsión de muerte, subyacente a los conceptos utilizados para entender el caso.

Le but de cet article est de narrer et de commenter une expérience clinique dans laquelle l’état mental envieux, en tant qu’une manifestation externe de la pulsion de mort, a pris une place prépondérante. Le fil conducteur choisi par l’autrice a mis en évidence la prédominance des pulsions destructrices, ce qui, en plus de causer beaucoup de souffrance à l’analysant, s’est manifesté par des atteintes au lien psychanalytique. L’autrice a conjecturé que l’échec de la continuité de la relation thérapeutique a été dû à une intolérance à la dépendance réceptive, puisque la connexion était vécue comme une humiliation. Elle a commenté l’implication et l’obscurité du concept de pulsion de mort, sous-jacent aux concepts utilisés pour comprendre le cas.

The traumatic and the work of the après-coup in Freud's opus.

This text explores the evolution of the notion of trauma in Freud's work and of its decisive import for the organization of psychic functioning through a two-stage process called the après-coup. By following the three steps of Freud's theory of the drives, the author shows that the conception of the traumatic is gradually internalized to become a basic quality of all drives as a tendency to return to an earlier state, and ultimately an organic, inanimate state. An open question remains in Freud about this tendency's relation to Eros, and therefore to the links between Eros and the traumatic state. This question has remained latent within the psychoanalytic community. The author proposes to conceive of Eros as an infinitely extensible tendency that needs containing in order for it to contribute to evolving inscriptions. Thus is outlined one traumatic state as a return to the inorganic and another traumatic state as an infinite extensibility, both being transformed by the superego and its imperatives in order to generate all life forms.

Beyond the death drive: Entropy and free energy.

In this paper I offer an overview of the possible links between psychoanalytical metapsychology and contemporary work in neuroscience concerning entropy and the free energy principle. After briefly describing the theory of living systems put forward by the neuroscientist Karl Friston based on the notion of entropy, we sum up the use of the notion of free energy by Friston and Freud. I then analyze how these notions improve the intelligibility of psychic functioning and can be associated with several psychoanalytical concepts, in particular the death drive. I approach from the same perspective the regulation of free energy associated with psychic envelopes and early intersubjectivity. It thus appears that the psychic apparatus can be considered at its different levels, from the most primary to the most secondary, as having the essential function of reducing entropy and free energy. Various forms of "failure" of this process of linking, regulation and transformation of energy within the psychic apparatus could be considered as the origin of different psychopathological manifestations as suggested in the last part of this paper.