The notion of the protective shield (Reizschutz), as formulated by Freud, has a strong biological bias. It is possible to redescribe it through Jean Laplanche's theory of generalized seduction, showing its constitution in the originary relations with the other. The exam of the literature about the notion clearly shows the ethical and esthetical dimensions of this concept. Authors relate conducts such as anorexia, drug addiction, hypochondria and criminal behavior as the results of a poor constitution of the protective shield. In this sense, it is possible to connect this concept to the Greek notion of Paraskeuê, a moral shield produced throughout life, as studied by Michel Foucault. We conclude to be desirable redescribing the concept, integrating it to the history of the care of the self's practices in order to emphasize ethical and esthetical features present in the clinical exercise of reconstructing the protective shield.
Protective shield; moral; suffering