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     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.

       Read full article • Related: Desire • Related: Fantasy • Related: Cause

Core Concepts

📍 The Three Registers & Knotting

     Symbolic • Imaginary • Real • Sinthome • Borromean knot • RSI • Topology

🧠 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

     Drive • Partial drive • Libido • Jouissance • Death drive • Pleasure principle • Beyond the pleasure principle

🗣️ Language & The Unconscious

     Unconscious • Signifier • Master signifier • Chain of signifiers • Quilting point • Lalangue • Letter

🏥 Clinical Structures

     Neurosis • Psychosis • Perversion • Hysteria • Obsessive neurosis • Phobia • Melancholia

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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

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Resources

Lacan's Seminars — Complete archive
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Dictionary — Term definitions
Bibliography — Essential readings

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Recent Changes

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