Freud’s theories are shown to rely on an equilibrium-seeking model derived from nineteenth century physics. This model is traced through Freud’s concepts of neuronal inertia; the pleasure principle; the primarily and secondary systems; instincts; the compulsion to repeat; the Nirvana Principle; the death instinct; and resistance. Quandaries concerning adaptation as well as the delay of discharge are attributed to the limitations of Freud’s equilibrium model. Next, the main features of far-from-equilibrium research are recounted, primarily from the work of Prigogine but properties of chaotic systems. The concepts of self-organization and dissipative structure, sensitivity to the environment, energy exchange, and nonlinearity help resolve the quandaries of adaptation in Freud’s theories.

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Date created

• 1990

Type

• Document

Processing Activity

• Processing documentation available at: https://wiki.albany.edu/display/SCA/Processing+Ingested+Digital+Files

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• Creative Commons BY-NC-ND Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International

  
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ITEM CONTEXT

Part of

386b7d5fcd17a644199db727913a7a7a

Scope and Contents

Part of

e3ebd4855fa658877b17f518e29a6ac9

Scope and Contents

Part of

23d738ba88f8333bc39725f9cb5bd0b8

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Collection

System Dynamic Society Records

Scope and Contents

Collecting area

• This collection is part of the University Archives