The Signification of the Principle of Constancy in Freud’s Psychoanalysis

This article examines the signification of the principle of constancy in Freud’s pre-psychoanalytic drafts and papers and in Entwurf. It is argued that Freud’s principle differs from seemingly similar principles proposed by Breuer and Fechner, and that it constitutes an assumption about the maintaining of a constant amount of mobile biophysical energy whose purpose is not to return to equilibrium, but, proceeding from the primary functions of discharge (principle of inertia) and accumulation (exigencies of life), to consolidate an asymmetry within the nervous system. This gives rise to a set of quasi-psychological dualisms: an energetic dualism between kinetic and tonic energy; a systemic dualism between impermeable and permeable neurons; and a processual dualism between courses of the excitation with and without the inhibiting influence of the ego. Further, it is argued that the principle of constancy makes itself redundant, to the extent that it opens up a psychological domain operating relatively independent of its biophysical basis, thus enabling its “auto-subtraction” from the psychological theory. Lastly, it is argued that the constitution of psychoanalysis is dependent on an “epistemological repression” of this principle, and that “Beyond the Pleasure Principle” may be understood as the return of the repressed principle of constancy.