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Finnish psychoanalysis has through the decades made important and original contributions to psychoanalytical theory, and the authors of this book, Pentti Ikonen and Eero Rechardt, are among the most original Finnish voices. Up to now their thinking has mostly been known in Scandinavian countries but this publication may open up their work to a wider group of readers.
Together the two authors have explored several fundamental concepts of psychoanalysis, such as the death drive, the process of binding and symbolization. From 1976 until 1992 they published extensively together, and their most important papers have now been collected in this book. At the core of the texts presented are their interpretation of Freud's later drive theory and, especially, their original understanding of the death drive, Thanatos. Ikonen and Rechard have, through a reading of Beyond the Pleasure Principle (Freud, 1920), developed a consistent theory of Thanatos which situates Thanatos as a general tendency (desire) to get rid of disturbance and to achieve peace and relief. Thanatos works jointly, in accordance with Freud's theory, with Eros which strives towards expansion, the creation of greater wholes and greater tension. The authors are critical of Freud's later references to Thanatos as a destructive drive (Freud, 1937, 1938), and also towards other interpretations of the death drive that focus mainly on destructivity and aggression. In their theory destructivity is only one of several possible expressions of Thanatos, as sexuality is only one possible expression of the activities of Eros.
Ikonen and Rechardt arrive at their conclusions through their understanding of the process of ‘binding’. A basic need for all human beings is the capacity to be able to bind instinctual energy. Ikonen and Rechardt argue that the process of binding may take many forms throughout psychic development, from the most primitive binding of energy involved in primary processes, to the most advanced forms. This