One of the defense mechanisms of the psyche, proposed by psychoanalysis, is repression, which authors like Freud related to psychopathology and a great emotional malaise and dysfunction.

However, Freud also proposed a mechanism that, similar to repression, consists in that instead of trying to silence our most basic instincts, it transforms them into something superior, socially accepted and that has a useful use for the rest of society: sublimation.

In this article we will talk about what sublimation is in psychoanalysis , what authors like Freud, Jung and Lacan think and how it has been related to the development of humanity.

Sublimation according to psychoanalysis

The idea of what is understood by sublimation within the scope of psychoanalysis varies according to the author, although they are all very solidly based on the concept given by Sigmund Freud of this idea. Even those who have a critical stance with the Freudian idea of sublimation take it as an example.

We will now look more deeply at different positions on the concept, focusing above all on the person who postulated it, Sigmund Freud, though highlighting alternative visions such as those of Lacan and Jung.

Freud’s Psychoanalysis

Within the most classical psychoanalytic theory, and from the mouth of Sigmund Freud, sublimation (“Sublimierung” in German) is understood as the defense mechanism in which an impulse, of a sexual or non-sexual nature but socially not very well accepted, is transformed into something that, apparently, has little to do with sexuality. In turn, the end result of the process is something that has a beneficial end for society as a whole, usually a product of a cultural, artistic, intellectual, scientific or sporting nature.

The erotic energy of the human being can be expressed, but within certain limits. If there is an excess of this energy and it is not socially acceptable to demonstrate it, the subject has two options: either sublimation or repression. If he represses it, sexual tension can incur in psychopathology according to the foundations of psychoanalysis itself.

Freud considered that this mechanism was much healthier compared to others , such as repression, denial, intellectualization or projection. According to his daughter Anna Freud in her book “The Self and the Defense Mechanisms” (1936), sublimation constitutes the superior defense mechanism of the psyche.

It should be noted that the main difference between sublimation and repression is that in this second defence mechanism there is a derivation and channelling of energy. On the other hand, in repression, the drive is deeply repressed and not channeled, which would give way to all the psychopathology proposed by Freud when it comes to repressing sexual energy.

This is what Freud affirms in his work Continuation of the lessons of introduction to psychoanalysis (1932). Sublimation is nothing more than the modification of the end and change of object, adapting it to what is socially acceptable . It is a socially acceptable escape valve from excess sexual energy.

Freud defended the idea that most of the superior aspects of the human species, that is, culture and its derivatives, were the result of how human beings had imposed social norms on themselves which, by not allowing them to be sexually free but not opting for repression, had to channel sexual energy and make it more acceptable.

Culture, civilization, humanity is nothing more than the result of suffocating sexual impulses . Thus, for the Viennese psychoanalyst, culture was seen as a radically unnatural aspect, although this was not necessarily a bad thing. Civilisation was the result of human beings repressing their most primary instincts throughout history, through a system of values that has become more complex, increasingly penalising sexuality.

Freud believed that sublimation was a sign of the maturity of civilization. It was a mechanism to allow people to behave in a socially functional way, that is, without breaking the cultural norms, which as a rule used to treat sexuality as something not suitable to be treated in public and its excess was seen as a problem .

Before such a sacrifice, far from being completely repressed or extinguished, the sexual impulse would have been taken advantage of and would have been the energy that would have allowed the creation of treasures of art, science, knowledge and as a whole the human intellectual productions.

This can be seen in areas where sexuality is very restricted , as is the case of the medieval priests, who had to comply with celibacy and, since they could not satisfy their sexual needs, dedicated themselves to writing codices or studying the Bible, in addition to being the group that practically monopolized the culture during that time.

But although the more general definition refers to how sexual drive should be channeled and transformed into something more socially desirable, it is true that Freud took into account that the original drive is not always something of a sexual nature.

He himself speaks about the case of a prestigious German surgeon, Johann Friedrich Dieffenbach, who in his childhood was dedicated to cutting the tails of dogs. This behaviour, clearly sadistic but not sexual, is worrying, typical of a child who, when he grows up, would not be surprised if he were a psychopath. However, in this particular case, he channeled it and transformed it into a more useful, socially acceptable end, being a prominent surgeon, known for great advances in rhinoplastic and maxillofacial surgery.

Interpersonal Psychoanalysis

From the hand of Harry Stack Sullivan, another well-known psychoanalyst although perhaps not of the stature of Freud, comes what is known as interpersonal psychoanalysis. Within this psychoanalytic current, and defined by Sullivan, it is understood that sublimation is an involuntary substitution that results in a partial satisfaction but with broad social support of something that, although it would give us great pleasure, society would not see it in a good light.

This substitution may be something we really do not want, but it is the only way we can have, however small, satisfaction without behaving in a way that is very disruptive to the rest of society.

Sublimation according to Jung

Carl Gustav Jung considered that sublimation was something mystical coming from nature , which was significantly different from the Freudian point of view, which gave him a quite detailed and, in a way, logical explanation of human behavior.

Freud, as we have already commented, considered that the concept of sublimation allowed us to understand how humanity had transformed sexual instincts into something non-sexual, with a different and substantially beneficial end for the whole of humanity.

Jung was critical of Freud’s conception, since he felt that the Viennese psychoanalyst had tried to define it in a way that made it seem credible scientifically. For Jung, sublimation is a process that is not as voluntary as Freud initially claimed . It was not the simple transformation of the sexual impulse into something different because society did not want us to be sexually free. For the Swiss psychoanalyst, sublimation was something very mysterious, of an alchemic nature.

  • You may be interested in: “Carl Gustav Jung: Biography and Work of a Spiritual Psychologist”

Das Ding, Sublimation and Lacan

Jacques Lacan relates the idea of sublimation to the concept of “Das Ding” (“The thing”). Das Ding is an abstract notion, and one of the defining characteristics of the human condition. He conceives it as the void we experience as human beings, which we try to fill through human relations, objects and experiences. The problem is that all attempts to fill the void implied by Das Ding are not enough to have full individual satisfaction.

Once the idea of the Lacanian Das Ding is understood, it is possible to understand the concept of sublimation according to the optics of the French psychoanalyst. For him, sublimation, the fact that something morally unacceptable is transformed into a socially productive product, be it artistic, scientific or cultural, is done to reduce the internal tension of the subject.

Science and religion are examples of how we try to fill the gap we have in the world , that is, there are things that we do not know, that we want to know more about because they awaken unknowns in us, and therefore we seek, either through theological explanations or through scientific research, answers.

Bibliographic references:

  • Sigmund Freud, ‘Civilization and Its Discontents’ (1930) in The Standard Edition Of The Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud – The Future of an Illusion, Civilization and its Discontents, and Other Works, trans. by James Strachey (Hogarth Press; London, 1961), vol.

  • Anna Freud, The Ego and the Mechanisms of Defence (Karnac Books, 2011), p. 44.
  • By G. Adler and A. Jaffé (Princeton University Press; Princeton, 1974), vol. 1, 171,
  • C. G. Jung, Dreams: (From Volumes 4, 8, 12, and 16 of the Collected Works of C. G. Jung), Princeton University Press (2012), p. 100.