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Concept of the Week
The object-cause of desire, introduced by Jacques Lacan in Seminar X. Unlike objects of desire (which we consciously pursue), the objet a is what sets desire in motion—the cause rather than the goal. It represents the leftover, the remainder that persists after all symbolization, forever eluding our grasp yet driving our fantasies and structuring our jouissance.
Core Concepts
📍 The Three Registers & Knotting
🧠 Subject & Otherness
Subject • Split subject • Ego • Other • Big Other • Name of the Father • Symbolic order
💭 Desire, Lack & Object
Desire • Demand • Lack • Objet petit a • Fantasy • Desire of the Other • Cause
⚡ Drive & Jouissance
🗣️ Language & The Unconscious
🏥 Clinical Structures
Neurosis • Psychosis • Perversion • Hysteria • Obsessive neurosis • Phobia • Melancholia
Key Thinkers
- Sigmund Freud — Founder of psychoanalysis
- Jacques Lacan — Return to Freud • Seminars
- Slavoj Žižek — Contemporary applications • Books
- Jacques-Alain Miller — Lacan's heir
Browse by Topic
- Ethics — The ethics of desire
- Clinical — Treatment & technique
- Language — Signification & speech
- Jouissance — Enjoyment beyond pleasure
Resources
- Lacan's Seminars — Complete archive
- DownloadsNEW
- Dictionary — Term definitions
- Bibliography — Essential readings
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