Life and Death in Psychoanalysis is a classic of psychoanalytic literature that has received little attention in the German-speaking world until now. Jean Laplanche addresses, in his methodical and content-wise unmistakable manner, the fundamental questions of psychoanalysis: How sexual is the unconscious, and what concept of sexuality does psychoanalysis actually have? How should the ego be defined in relation to narcissism? How can aggression and sadomasochism be distinguished, and what importance should be assigned to the death drive? Even decades after its initial publication, this text has lost none of its originality: Many thematic complexes that Laplanche elaborates on, such as retroactivity and the two-phase trauma or the distinction between drive and instinct, have developed unforeseen relevance over time.