Lacan and the Limits of Language

Shepherdson, Charles

doi:10.5422/fso/9780823227662.001.0001

Cited by 31 publications

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“…But such a situation, and the “totality” and “absoluteness” which it minorly allows, contrasts sharply with the formal meaning of “being” as total ( without remainder ) and absolute ( with respect to nothing whatsoever ). The existence of primal repression as coincident upon the existence of a subject of language therefore means that any such claim to formal and absolute totality in possible signification (which is the interpretation of “being” that α.b places upon us) is by its nature illusory (Shepherdson, 2008, pp. 18–28).…”

Section: Ontologizing As Autoerotic Fantasymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Castrated ontologizing: A Lacanian critique of metaphysical desire.

Carroll

2023

Journal of Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology

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In this article, I aim to account for the desire at the root of metaphysical/ontological practice by drawing upon Jacques Lacan's treatment of the formation of desire and language in human subjectivity. In the section, The Fundamental Ontological Proposition, I condense the practice of metaphysics into the actual declaration of a single, highly peculiar "fundamental ontological proposition," and subsequently analyze its 12 "formally invariant characteristics." This argumentatively situates the phenomenon of metaphysical practice squarely within the field of desire in its connection to language. In the section, Castration and the Name-of-the-Father, I explicate Lacan's approach to desire/language through his notions of "castration" and "le nom-du-père," which he elaborates in detail through his 1957-1958 treatment of the Oedipal dialectic and the writings of this period. I show the close relationship that erotic alienation possesses to the condensation of a subject of language. In the section, Ontologizing as Autoerotic Fantasy, I return to the set of formally invariant characteristics of the fundamental ontological proposition, and interpret them in light of the just-explained Lacanian understanding of languaged subjectivity. I show that the fundamental ontological proposition can be interpreted as a means by which to, in fantasy, deny the structurally constitutive castration of its speaker. I conclude with several suggestions toward further research at the intersection of Lacanian psychoanalysis and metaphysical theory and practice. Public Significance StatementThis article advances the idea that Jacques Lacan's teaching on desire and language can be used to shed light upon the sources and aims of metaphysical practice. Relevant for philosophically minded psychoanalysts and psychoanalytically conversant philosophers, this reading of Lacan pursues an interdisciplinary dialogue concerned with the role desire plays in even the most abstract theorizing.

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Section: Ontologizing As Autoerotic Fantasymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The enrichment of metaphysics by its encounter with psychoanalysis is as well-attested (Badiou, 2015; Deleuze, 1994; Richardson, 1983b) as its delimitation by this same encounter is acknowledged (Boothby, 2014, pp. 185–221; Shepherdson, 2008, pp. 116–152).…”

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confidence: 99%

Castrated ontologizing: A Lacanian critique of metaphysical desire.

Carroll

2023

Journal of Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology

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“…In Lacanian terms, our entry into the symbolic order of language as subjects brings the loss of our pre-subjective sense of oneness with the world and the purported enjoyment which accompanied that state (McGowan, 2013). Of course, as subjects, we never experienced this state because it was pre-subjective – prior to our formation as social beings of language and the law – and hence our positing of this enjoyment before and beyond language is, paradoxically, a retroversive consequence of our becoming subjects of language (Shepherdson, 2008). Yet we spend our lives seeking to recapture the intense enjoyment associated with this purportedly lost object, and it is the existential ‘lack’ associated with this loss that fuels the insatiability of desire – even as we misrecognise objects of pleasure as sources of enjoyment – whether it be for the latest smartphone, ‘taking back control’ (to quote the UK Brexiteers) or improved national outcomes in the Programme for International Student Assessment.…”

Section: A Note On Ideology Enjoyment and Fantasymentioning

confidence: 99%

Democracy and education: ‘In spite of it all’

Clarke

2018

Power and Education

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“…Jacques Lacan argued that the veridical content of a hallucination is far less important than the quality of the hallucination (Lacan, , p. 75). Notions of agreed upon common‐sense ‘reality’ for Lacan belong properly speaking to fantasy and are part of the domain of the Imaginary and the Symbolic which must be distinguished from a pre‐discursive Real (Shepherdson, , p. 32). In his seminar on the psychoses, Lacan () makes the point that it is only insofar as the hallucinations form part of a delusional belief system that they are considered to be positive symptoms of psychosis.…”

Section: Visionary Spiritual Experiences In Psychosis: Psychoanalyticmentioning

confidence: 99%

Visions or Hallucinations? Lacan on Mysticism and Psychosis Reconsidered: The Case of St George of Malta

Baldacchino¹

2016

Brit J Psychotherapy

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Mysticism has long featured in discussions among psychoanalysts and mental health practitioners, anthropologists and scholars of religion. In this paper I analyse the life and visions of a twentieth century mystic in the Catholic Mediterranean. Through this case study I seek to compare the psychoanalytic and to a lesser extent the psychiatric discussions of ‘hallucinations’ with the theological explanations of visions. Via a Lacanian discussion of the case of the first Maltese saint I argue that there are interesting points of convergence between the two. An adequate understanding of the cultural context within which visions are articulated as meaningful experiences is essential to our understanding and clinical treatment of people presenting symptoms associated with religious content. A psychoanalytical understanding can serve to enrich and enliven theological discussions on madness as a path to sanctity.

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Lacan and the Limits of Language

Cited by 31 publications

References 0 publications

Castrated ontologizing: A Lacanian critique of metaphysical desire.

Castrated ontologizing: A Lacanian critique of metaphysical desire.

Democracy and education: ‘In spite of it all’

Visions or Hallucinations? Lacan on Mysticism and Psychosis Reconsidered: The Case of St George of Malta

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