The doubles of desire: Spinoza and Freud on sexuality and power as forms of desire

Abstract

Contemporary discourse on desire is posited from two paradigms that work by negation: pleasure and power. This article will first present the form of negative desire in Freud and sexuality or pleasure, and then present the positive form of desire in Spinoza as power; the analysis of Spinoza's conatus aims to make a contrast that invites us to think of an affirmative and productive form of desire. The first section articulates the elements that make desire in Freudian theory primarily a theory of negation in terms of a subject produced by desire; the second section investigates what constitutes for Spinoza the positivity of desire as the expression of perseverance in being or power in conatus. Finally, the conclusions point to the consequences of conceiving desire as a positive act.