Citation

Vikar G. Luzif Amor 1999; 12(23): 84-96.

Vernacular Title

Die Problematik der Aggression in der Auffassung von Imre Hermann und der

Copyright

(Copyright © 1999, Edition Diskord)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

11638927

Abstract

We meet two opposite concepts in the discussion of aggression. The first one claims that aggression is an instinctual drive, inborn with the human being. The second one claims that agression is a reaction. Both concepts have strong arguments. Freud's second drive theory introduces the death instinct, on the side of Eros, as the second basic drive of human creatures. Since Freud, most analysts have shared the opinion that aggression is an instinctual drive, but few of them accepted the death instinct. The experiments of Dollard and Miller regarding the relation between frustration and aggression underpin the reaction theory. The question is whether we can integrate the two concepts. The theories and observations of the Budapest school offer the possibility of a synthesis. Ferenczi already shows an emphasis on situations, which increase aggressive tension, for example in "The unwanted child and the death instinct," or in the "Confusion of tongues between the child and the adults." We find a coherent and original theory of agression in the work of Imre Hermann. According to his theory, aggression is a biological capacity of men, mobilised as a reaction in situations, which are founded in the development of the human drive system.

Language: de