Abstract
To understand Freud's discussion of the death wish or 'death instinct' in chapter VI of Civilization and its Discontents, suffice it to start with a paradox. The work of culture is placed under the authority of Eros, of a life force that aims at combining individuals into greater units and ultimately into civilization as a global unit. And yet, civilization seems to show a certain amount of distrust towards every thing sexual. It demands sublimation to fully accept sexuality within the realm of culture. The underlying assumption that seems to transpire in Freud's circuitous is the following: there is a disruptive element in Eros, a force that is potentially destructive. Freud's demonstration is indeed circuitous because he might have gone straight to the point without trying to reconcile his previous theory with the new theory of the instincts.
