Abstract
I explore Lacan’s theory of the subject by responding to two well-known criticisms of it, found in Borch-Jacobsen’s Lacan and Lacoue-Labarthe and Nancy’s The Title of the Letter. I argue that the relation of the subject to language is an important part of Lacan’s theory, but his conception of the subject cannot be reduced to language, as the critiques allege. The real must be included in the picture too. I then discuss the situation of Lacan’s subject between language and the real, and conclude with a contrast of Lacan’s subversion of the subject to a Derridean paleonymic approach.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Badiou Alain (1989) Manifeste pour la philosophie. Seuil, Paris
Borch-Jacobsen Mikkel. (1991) Lacan: The Absolute Master. Stanford University Press, Stanford
Derrida, Jacques, “‘Eating Well,’ or the Calculation of the Subject: An Interview with Jacques Derrida,” in Who Comes After the Subject?, eds. Eduardo Cadava, Peter Connor, and Jean-Luc Nancy. Interview translated by Peter Connor and Avital Ronell. (New York: Routledge, 1991), pp. 96–119
Derrida, Jacques, Of Grammatology. Trans. Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1976)
Derrida, Jacques. Positions. Trans. Alan Bass (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1981)
Fink Bruce (1995) The Lacanian Subject. Princeton University Press, Princeton
Fink Bruce (1997) A Clinical Introduction to Lacanian Psychoanalysis: Theory and Technique. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA
Freud, Sigmund, “Analysis of a Phobia in a Five-Year-Old Boy,” in The Standard Edition, Volume X (London: The Hogarth Press, 1909, 1964). pp. 3–149
Lacan, Jacques, L’Identification. (Seminar IX, 1961–1962). Unpublished
Lacan, Jacques, La logique du fantasme. (Seminar XIV, 1966–1967). Unpublished
Lacan Jacques (1975) Yale University, Kanzer Seminar. Scilicet 6/7: 7–31
Lacan, Jacques, The Seminar of Jacques Lacan, Book I: Freud’s Papers on Technique: 1953–1954. Trans. John Forrester. (New York: Norton, 1988)
Lacan, Jacques, Le Séminaire, livre XVII: L’envers de la psychanalyse: 1969–1970. Texte établi par Jacques-Alain Miller. (Paris: Seuil, 1991a)
Lacan, Jacques, The Seminar of Jacques Lacan, Book II: The Ego in Freud’s Theory and in the Technique of Psychoanalysis: 1954–1955. Trans. Sylvana Tomaselli. Notes by John Forrester. (New York: Norton, 1991b)
Lacan, Jacques, The Seminar of Jacques Lacan, Book III: The Psychoses: 1955–1956. Trans. Russell Grigg. (New York: Norton, 1993)
Lacan, Jacques, Le Séminaire, livre V: Les formations de l’inconscient: 1957–1958. Texte établi par Jacques-Alain Miller. (Paris: Seuil, 1998a)
Lacan, Jacques, The Seminar of Jacques Lacan, Book XX: Encore: 1972–1973. Trans. Bruce Fink. (New York: Norton, 1998b)
Lacan, Jacques, Écrits: A Selection. Trans. Bruce Fink. (New York: Norton, 2002)
Lacan, Jacques, Le Séminaire, livre X: L’angoisse: 1962–1963. Texte établi par Jacques-Alain Miller. (Paris: Seuil, 2004)
Lacan, Jacques, Le Séminaire, livre XVI: D’un Autre à l’autre: 1968–1969. Texte établi par Jacques-Alain Miller. (Paris: Seuil, 2006)
Lacoue-Labarthe, Philippe and Jean-Luc Nancy, The Title of the Letter. Trans. François Raffoul and David Pettigrew. (Albany: SUNY Press, 1992)
Leader Darian (1996) Why Do Women Write More Letters Than They Post? Faber and Faber, London
Miller, Jacques-Alain, L’expérience du réel dans la cure psychanalytique. Unpublished (1998–1999)
Raffoul, François “Lacan and the Event of the Subject,” in Cultural Semiosis: Tracing the Signifier, ed. and Intro by Hugh J. Silverman (New York: Routledge, 1998), pp. 63–82
Thurston Luke (1998) Ineluctable Nodalities: On The Borromean Knot. In: Dany Nobus (eds) Key Concepts of Lacanian Psychoanalysis. Other Press, New York, pp. 139–163
Verhaeghe Paul (2001) Beyond Gender: From Subject to Drive. Other Press, New York
Verhaeghe, Paul and Frédéric Declercq, “Lacan’s Analytic Goal: Le sinthome or the Feminine Way,” in Re-Inventing the Symptom: Essays on the Final Lacan. ed. Luke Thurston. (New York: Other Press, 2002), pp. 59–82
ŽiŽek Slavoj. (1999) “The Seven Veils of Fantasy”. In: Nobus Dany (eds) Key Concepts of Lacanian Psychoanalysis. Other Press, New York, pp. 190–218
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Pluth, E. Lacan’s subversion of the subject. Cont Philos Rev 39, 293–312 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11007-006-9024-3
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11007-006-9024-3