Instinct

Lacan follows Freud in distinguishing the instincts from the drives.

Lacan -- following Freud -- distinguishes between instincts and drives.

criticizes those who obscure this distinction by using the same English word ('instinct') to translate both Freud's terms (Instinkt Trieb).

"Instinct" is a purely biological concept and belongs to the study of animal ethology.

"Instinct" is a biological concept and belongs to the study of animal ethology.

Whereas animals are driven by instincts, which are relatively regid and invariable, and imply a direct relation to an object, human sexuality is a matter of drives, which are very variable and never attain their object.

Lacan

Although Lacan uses the term "instinct" frequently in his early work, after 1950 he uses the wor dless frequently, preferring instead to reconceptualize the concept of instinct in terms of need.