Abstract

PLASTINO, Carlos Alberto. Marcuse: a reductionist reading of Freud's works. Physis [online]. 1998, vol.8, n.1, pp. 47-74. ISSN 0103-7331.  http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0103-73311998000100004.

The article discusses Marcuse's reading of Freud's works, pointing out that his interpretation reduces the meaning of Freudian concepts of pleasure principie and reality principie in the context of an understanding characterized by the centrality of work in the production of subjectivities. In Marcuse's perspective, this reductionist reading overlooks the significance of Freud's theoretical tum from 1920 on, thus producing a second reduction of the Freudian concepts, insofar as the second instinctual theory is interpreted within the "pleasure principie" and "reality principie" concepts. As a consequence of such a double reductionism - differently from Freud - Marcuse does not take into consideration the significance of law in the construction of democracy.

Keywords : Reductionism; pleasure principie; reality principie; psychoanalysis; complexity.