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KEY CONCEPTS OF LACANIAN

PSYCHOANALYSIS

Edited by

DanyNobus

II
OTIEI
Other Press
New York
1999 printing

Copyright © 1998 by Dany Nobus. To the edited collection and the


individual authors to their contributions 1998.

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book, or parts
thereof, in any form, without written permission from Other Press, LIc
except in the case of brief quotations in reviews for inclusion in a maga­
zine, newspaper, or broadcast. Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper. For information write to Other Press, LIc, 377 W. 11th
Street, New York, NY 10014. Or visit our website: www.otherpress.com.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Key concepts of Lacanian psychoanalysis I edited by Dany Nobus.


p. cm.
Includes bibliograph ical references and index.
ISBN 1-892746-14-X (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Psychoanalysis. 2. Lacan, Jacques, 1901- . I. Nobus, Dany.
BF173.K425 1999
150.19'5-dc21 99-17394

Bruce Fink, ''The Master Signifier and the Four Discourses." Parts of this
chapter appeared in The Lacanian Subject: Between Language and Jouissance,
copyright © 1995 by Princeton University Press, 3rd printing and 1st paperback
A Clinical Introduction to Lacanian Psychoanalysis:
printing 1997, and in
Theory and Technique, copyright © 1997 by Harvard University Press, 1st
printing 1997.
CONTENTS

Acknowledgements vii

Preface ix

1. From Kantian Ethics to Mystical Experience:


An Exploration of Jouissance 1
Dylan Evans

2. The Master Signifier and the Four Discourses 29


Bruce Fink

3. From the Mechanism of Psychosis to the Universal


Condition of the Symptom: On Foreclosure 48
Russell Grigg

4. The Original Sin of Psychoanalysis:


On the Desire of the Analyst 75
Katrien Libbrecht

5. Life and Death in the Glass:


A New Look at the Mirror Stage 101
Dany Nobus

6. Ineluctable Nodalities: On the Borromean Knot 139


Luke Thurston
vi CONTENTS

7. Causation and Destitution of a Pre-ontological


Non-entity: On the Lacanian Subject 164
Paul Verhaeghe

8. The Seven Veils of Fantasy 190


Slavoj Zitek

Notes on Contributors 2 19

Index 22 1
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The idea for this book grew out of a discussion I had with Irish col­
leagues during one cold November night in Dublin, some two years
ago. We were celebrating the success of the 2nd Annual Congress of
the Association for Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy in Ireland and,
between mouthfuls of Guinness, expressing our dissatisfaction with the
existing introductions to Lacanian thought. At one point, somebody
conceded that the information provided by these introductory works
is 'never enough and always too much,' a principle which somebody
else had used previously to characterize the dynamics of addiction.
Although it was obvious to all of us that the comparison had been
triggered by the context, it struck me as quite accurate, and I started
to wonder whether it would be possible to produce an introductory
work on Lacan according to "ifferent criteria, which set me on the
tracks leading to this book.
Apart from all those people present at my table on that memorable
Irish night, I wish to express my gratitude to all the authors who have
agreed to contribute to this volume for complying with the guidelines
I set out for them and for patiently tolerating my repeated requests for
revision. I would also like to thank Chris Lillja and Jamie Orr at
Princeton University Press, and Jeffrey Czekaj at Harvard University
Press for granting permission to reprint the sections in Bruce Fink's
paper which appeared previously in The Lacanian Subject and A
Clinical Introduction to Lacanian Psychoanalysis. Finally I thank
Oliver Rathbone and Kirsty Hall at Rebus Press for supporting this
project from its earliest stages and for providing invaluable editorial
advice.
PREFACE

Since the 1980 's, Lacanian ideas have stealthily yet steadily penetrated
the social sciences , the arts and the humanities . The works of Lacan
are currently a standard reference within cultural, gender and women 's
studies , and they also inspire many authors working within the realms
of philosophy and political theory . At the same time, Lacanian ideas
continue to spark off heated debates amongst psychoanalysts and 'lay­
people' alike, whereby Lacan's numerous personal idiosyncrasies are
often used as arguments ad hominem to minimize the value of his
theoretical contributions . 1 Furthermore, the enormous complexity. the
high level of abstraction, and the partial publication and translation of
Lacan's works continue to trigger scholarly disputes about how to
interpret terms and formulae.2
Confronted with this broad dissemination of Lacanian thought and
the multifarious controversies surrounding it, professional researchers.
health care workers and students often try to find solace in psycho­
analytic works of reference. Over the past decade. many works have
been published in which psychoanalytic concepts, schemas , and sym­
bols are defined in a brief, accessible format, although mainly in
French and dealing with psychoanalysis in general rather than Lacanian
theory as such .3 For the Anglo-American reader. and strictly oriented
towards Lacanian terminology. there is currently Dylan Evans's An
Introductory Dictionary of Lacanian Psychoanalysis, which is likely
to remain an invaluable source of information for students and profes­
sionals in years to come .4 Besides this unique compendium, numerous
general introductions to Lacan in English exist, and there is even a
Reader's Guide to the English Ecrits.5
Considering the scope and the quality of these materials. the primary
Lacan-needs of the Anglo-American reader are already well catered
. .

for, which reduces the desirability of yet another 'introduction to

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