O sadismo-masoquismo em Freud e a concepção de unidade

Abstract

Freud theorizes the phenomena of sadomasochism not based on the novels of Sade and Masoch — authors whose names gave rise to the concepts of "sadism" and "masochism," respectively — but rather in reference to the psychiatric and sexological publications of his time, with particular emphasis on Krafft-Ebing. In his first drive theory, sadism is related to the aggressive component of the drive that became exacerbated and independent, thereby dominating the subject’s sexual tendency, while masochism is considered a continuation of sadism that turned back against the person themselves. In the second drive theory, the emphasis previously placed on sadism shifts to masochism, now regarded as primary. The death drive is rendered harmless and diverted outward by the libido, with sadism understood as the part of the drive diverted toward external objects and placed in the service of sexual function. Masochism would correspond to the part of the death drive that remains within the organism, bound to the libido. This primary, erogenous masochism would give rise to two others, feminine masochism and moral masochism, which would correspond to a return of the drive toward the ego. In both moments of the theory, both in the first and in the second drive dualism, the idea of a sadomasochistic unity, inherited from psychiatric and sexological productions, is maintained and articulated with Freudian metapsychological productions related to the theme. Deleuze, when analyzing the novels of Sade and Masoch, argues that both the Freudian theory of sadomasochism and, mainly, the idea of a sadomasochistic unity — which that theory upholds and renews — can no longer be sustained. Thus, this research, situated within the field of the Philosophy of Psychoanalysis, aims to understand whether the Freudian theory of sadismmasochism has the possibility of sustaining itself in the face of Deleuze's criticisms, taking as its horizon the theoretical gains of the notion of a drive that returns. To this end, a movement will be made to return to the novels of Sade and Masoch, as done by the philosopher, in order to promote a contrast between his criticisms, the analysis of the novels, and the analysis of Freudian theory itself.