Who Defends Itself from what? Toward a Reformulation of the Concept of Defense

The theme of the present paper is the concept of defense. The aim is to explore the possibility of reformulating the concept in a way that is free from any compromise with the drive model. The author first re-examines the classic conception of defense and then identifies specific theoretical elements in the works of Freud (in particular, the notions of external fright, primary defense, and signals of anxiety). These elements can easily benefit from further development in the current scientific context, specifically from reconsideration in the light of modern emotion theories and somatic marker theory (Damasio). The paper thereby identifies a regulating and meaning-attribution system that is deeply embedded in the biological and that can nurture certain somatically marked emotion-expectation-action schemas. It is then proposed that children's progressive mastering of the semantic and linguistic universe determines the grafting of the symbolic sphere onto this biological regulating mechanism. Indeed, it is the acquisition of competency in using verbal forms (especially active-passive and passive-active transformations) and in using metaphor as a meaning-construction mechanism that leads to a vast range of transformation and transfer mechanisms for somatically marked schema. It is therefore possible to account for an individual's idiosyncratic construction of a myriad of contexts and meanings, which can use the emotion system to activate powerful wishing or avoiding forces. This junction of the symbolic with the somatic/biological thus makes it possible to delineate specific defense mechanisms that are similar to those described in the clinical tradition. In particular, the author shows how identification, projection, condensation, and displacement can be reformulated, but also points to the ego's fundamental narrative nature as an area in which the analogous mechanisms of repression, negation, idealization, and rationalization might also easily be located.