1. The Interpretation of Dreams (1899)
Freud wanted to prove that dreams are capable of being interpreted. To “interpret a dream” it means to declare it meaning. The dream is no psychic action but is known as the somatic process, by asserting itself even though the dream is incomprehensible it cannot deny its significance. Freud has the idea that the dream is a symbolic representation of future events. Another idea was called the “cipher method”, it treats dream like a secret code where every sign is translated into a sign with known meaning. Freud continues to expand on understanding the meaning behind dreams, through different types of research.
2. Beyond The Pleasure Principle (1920)
Within this book, Freud indicates that humans struggle with two opposing drives. One being Eros, which is the production of creativity, sexual connection, reproduction, self-preservation, etc. The other drive is known as the “death-drive”, this brings destruction, aggression, compulsion, self-destruction. Freud implies that the process of creating living cells creates that chemical imbalance. The pressure, called molecular diffusion, is the exhaustion of battery, making it hard to come back from this state as it is now present in every living cell.