Séminaire de Lacan - Philosophical Concept | Alexandria
Séminaire de Lacan, a decades-long series of lectures and writings by French psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan, presents not merely a body of work but a labyrinthine exploration of the unconscious, language, and the human subject. Often misunderstood or simplified as simply "Lacanian theory," the Séminaire defies easy categorization, demanding a rigorous engagement with philosophy, linguistics, and mathematics to even begin to grasp its complexities. It’s a project that perpetually questions its own foundations, inviting readers to reconsider fundamental assumptions about the self and the world.
The Séminaire began in 1953, a pivotal moment following Lacan’s expulsion from the International Psychoanalytical Association. This rupture became a catalyst, allowing Lacan to carve his own path, one that returned to Freud while simultaneously radically departing from orthodox interpretations. The early sessions, meticulously recorded and transcribed over the years, wrestled with concepts such as the "return to Freud," an attempt to revive and reinterpret Freud's original insights against what Lacan saw as the dilutions and misinterpretations of post-Freudian psychoanalysis.
Over its 27 years, the Séminaire evolved through distinct phases, each marked by shifts in focus and methodology. Lacan tackled topics ranging from the mirror stage and the symbolic order to objet petit a and the Borromean knot, constructing a theoretical edifice of breathtaking scope and intricacy. Anecdotes abound of heated debates, enigmatic pronouncements, and intellectual provocations that characterized these sessions. Some accounts suggest a deliberate obfuscation, a strategic deployment of ambiguity designed to force participants to confront the limits of their own understanding. The Séminaire is not passive learning; it is an active process of intellectual struggle.
The Séminaire de Lacan continues to exert a considerable influence across various disciplines, from literary theory and film studies to architecture and political science. Its concepts resonate with contemporary concerns about identity, power, and the nature of reality itself. Are we truly masters of our own minds, or are we merely puppets of language and the unconscious, as Lacan suggests? The ongoing fascination with the Séminaire is perhaps less about finding definitive answers and more about embracing the unsettling, yet ultimately liberating, journey of perpetual questioning it sets in motion.