Sigmund Freud's death instinct, first defined in his book
Beyond the Pleasure Principle, and named after the
Greek personification of
Death (see above writeup). This death
instinct is the very essence of destructive instincts, because it links every desire of
aggression and of
sex with the desire for
death. The aim of this instinct is to undo connections and destroy things. It is the instinct associated with the desire for
pain, for
hurt, for
corruption and
destruction. Basically the opposite of
Eros, this instinct is, according to
Freud, the reason for all our
aggressive tendencies.
Freud makes a note at the conclusion of his book
Civilization and its Discontents that human beings, following Thanatos, have invented the tools to completely exterminate themselves.
Just as to Eros belongs
Libido, to Thanatos belongs
Destrudo.