Difference between revisions of "Cathexis"

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The libido's charge of energy. Freud often described the functioning of psychosexual energies in mechanical terms, influenced perhaps by the dominance of the steam engine at the end of the nineteenth century. He often described the libido as the producer of energies that, if blocked, required release in other ways. If an individual is frustrated in his or her desires, Freud often represented that frustration as a blockage of energies that would then build up and require release in other ways: for example, by way of regression and the "re-cathecting" of former positions (ie. fixation at the oral or anal phase and the enjoyment of former sexual objects ["object-cathexes"], including auto-eroticism). When the ego blocks such efforts to discharge one's cathexis by way of regression, i.e. when the ego wishes to repress such desires, Freud uses the term "anti-cathexis" or counter-charge. Like a steam engine, the libido's cathexis then builds up until it finds alternative outlets, which can lead to sublimation or to the formation of sometimes disabling symptoms.
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[[James]] Strachey's rendering of [[Freud]]'s term ''Besetzung'', and now a standard term in the [[psychoanalytic]] [[vocabulary]] of the [[English]]-[[speaking]] [[world]].
  
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== References ==
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One of the [[meanings]] of ''Besetzung'' is the occupation of a town or territory.
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[[Category:Lacan]]
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Like its [[French]] equivalent ''investissement'', ''Besetzung'' is in common usage, and [[Freud]]'s [[choice]] of terminology reflects his usual reluctance to use a highly technical vocabulary.
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[[Category:Terms]]
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[[Category:Concepts]]
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Like "[[libido]]", "[[cathexis]]," and the verb "[[cathect]]", coined by [[Freud]]'s English translator on the basis of a Greek verb [[meaning]] "to occupy," have quasi-classical connotations that are not [[present]] in the original [[German]].
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[[Category:Psychoanalysis]]
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[[Freud]] uses the term to describe the [[process]] whereby a quantity of [[psychical]] [[energy]] becomes attached to an [[object]] or [[idea]].
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In his earliest writings, Freud describes neurones as [[being]] cathected with a quantity of energy or a quota of [[affect]].
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There is some variation in usage in the later [[texts]], but the basic [[notion]] of quantities of energy remains fairly constant.
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Thus, to say that an object is libidinally cathected means that it is charged with [[sexual]] energy deriving from sources [[internal]] to the [[psyche]].
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In [[Freud]]'s second [[topography]], the [[id]], or the [[instinctual]] pole ofthe [[personality]], is said to be the source of all cathexes.

Latest revision as of 03:35, 24 May 2019

James Strachey's rendering of Freud's term Besetzung, and now a standard term in the psychoanalytic vocabulary of the English-speaking world.

One of the meanings of Besetzung is the occupation of a town or territory.

Like its French equivalent investissement, Besetzung is in common usage, and Freud's choice of terminology reflects his usual reluctance to use a highly technical vocabulary.

Like "libido", "cathexis," and the verb "cathect", coined by Freud's English translator on the basis of a Greek verb meaning "to occupy," have quasi-classical connotations that are not present in the original German.

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Freud uses the term to describe the process whereby a quantity of psychical energy becomes attached to an object or idea.

In his earliest writings, Freud describes neurones as being cathected with a quantity of energy or a quota of affect.

There is some variation in usage in the later texts, but the basic notion of quantities of energy remains fairly constant.

Thus, to say that an object is libidinally cathected means that it is charged with sexual energy deriving from sources internal to the psyche.

In Freud's second topography, the id, or the instinctual pole ofthe personality, is said to be the source of all cathexes.

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