In his 1920 essay "Beyond the Pleasure Principle," Freud introduces the fascinating and controversial concept of the death drive, which has since been subjected to a wide range of interpretations and applications. In her text, Alenka Zupancic analyzes the diverse and multifaceted aspects of this concept and explains how Freud's introduction of the death drive deconstructs our conventional understanding of life—and philosophically, vitalism. She also illustrates how the inherent contradictions in Freud's text can be utilized for clarifications and further developments of the concept. Zupancic unfolds the relevance of the term not only for many contemporary discussions within psychoanalysis and philosophy but also in a broader social context.