Gustav Theodor Fechner
(1801-1887)
In 1848, German experimental psychologist Gustav Theodor Fechner formalised the Lustprinzip or "pleasure principle". The idea that action is determined by the degree of pleasure - or displeasure - that thought of the action provokes was scarcely new. It dates back to the Epicureans of classical antiquity and beyond. But Fechner lays stress on the unconscious as much as the conscious motivation for acting. Fechner’s conception was later taken up by Sigmund Freud.
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