The Pleasure Principle vs. Reality Principle: Psychoanalytic Analysis

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The concept of this term pleasure principle reminds me of Janet Jackson's hit song from back in the day entitled "Pleasure Principle" and although they are two completely different matters when compared to what the pleasure principle is from a psychoanalytic perspective, the factor still remains that there is desire present in our wants and potential needs. By the Sigmund Freud, the pleasure principle is defined as: "the uncontrollable human drive to satisfy desire, or an appetite for something that promises enjoyment, satisfaction and pleasure in its attainment." As humans, we crave and desires things in the matter of sex, food and power in all forms. What the psychoanalytic analysis proposes is that pleasure comes from many things we might not associate with, things such as rules and laws. Pleasure does not only concern the parts of life where we experience joy and comfort, pleasure can also come from thrill and excitement - our own forms of ecstasy. The pleasure principle works as an aid to allow people to experience satisfaction that is unrestricted and in all forms for every possible desire.

On contrary to the pleasure principle, the reality principle which "represents the constant curbing of desire according to possibility, law, or social convention."(Ott et al. 2012). This theory is associated with the ego which is a part of the mind where we outweigh the positive and negatives of a particular situations before we make a final decision; desire is no longer present, but the conscience and the concern of the outcome become the main priority. Thus leading into repression which is the process of mentally keeping our desires below recognition; in other words not expressing our desires but rather suppressing them instead.

The common difference between the pleasure principle and the reality principle is that in one sense you are only concerned with obtaining pleasure while the other proposes weighing out the cause and effect of a desire, controlling the desire for pleasure, and understanding the concept of moderation and self control.