Pleasure and Principle

According to Freud, the Id is governed by the Pleasure Principle, though he leaves the concept of Pleasure unanalyzed, thereby obscuring several potential problems.  First, he does not distinguish between excitation and satiation.  Second, he does not consider, as Spinoza and Nietzsche argue, that Pleasure is merely the subjective aspect of an objective condition--an increase in strength.  Third, Nietzsche's concept of the Will to Power as seeking a "discharge of strength", which is evocative of male sexual processes, suggests that the sexual drive not be subsumed with those that seek "gratification", which evokes receptivity.  Finally, Schopenhauer suggests that Pleasure is a ruse of Nature that lures humans into doing something that they would otherwise avoid--engage in reproductive acts.  In each of the cases, Pleasure is exposed as equivocal or derivative, and, hence, as inadequate as a principle.