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Sublimation

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{{Top}}sublimate|sublimation{{Bottom}}
 
=====Sigmund Freud=====
In [[Freud]]'s work, [[sublimation]] is a process in which the [[libido]] is channelled into apparently non-sexual activities such as artistic creation and intellectual work.
However, many points remain unclear in [[Freud]]'s account of [[sublimation]].
--=====Jacques Lacan=====
[[Lacan]]s takes up the concept of [[sublimation]] in his [[seminar]] of 1959-60.
He follows [[Freud]] in emphasizing the fact that the element of social recognition is central to the concept, since it is only insofar as the [[drive]]s are diverted towards this dimension of shared social values that they can be said to be sublimated.<ref>{{S7}} p.144</ref>
It is this dimension of shared social values which allows [[Lacan]] to tie in the concept of [[sublimation]] with his discussion of [[ethics]].<ref>{{S7}} p.144</ref>
=====Differences - Freud and Lacan=====
However, [[Lacan]]'s account of [[sublimation]] also differs from [[Freud]]'s on a number of points.
===One==Perversion===== 
[[Freud]]'s account implies that [[perversion|perverse sexuality]] as a form of direct satisfaction of the [[drive]] is possible, and that [[sublimation]] is only necessary because this direct form in prohibited by society.
[[Lacan]] however rejects the cocnept of a zero degree of satisfaction, arguing that [[perversion]] is not simply a brute natural means of discharging the [[libido]], but a highly structured [[structure]]d relation to the [[drive]]s which are already, in themselves, [[linguistic]] rather than [[biological]] forces. ===Two===
Whereas [[Freud]] beleived believed that complete [[sublimation]] might be possible for some particularly refined or cultured people, [[Lacan]] argues that "complete sublimation is not possible for the individual."<ref>{{S7}} p.91</ref> ===Three===
=====Object=====
In [[Freud]]'s account, [[sublimation]] involves the redirection of the [[drive]] to a different (non-sexual) object.
In [[Lacan]]'s account, however, what changes is not the object but its position in the [[structure ]] of [[fantasy]].
In other words, [[sublimation]] does not involve directing the [[drive]] to a different [[object]], but rather changing the nature of the [[object]] to which the [[drive]] was already directed, a "change of object in itself," something which is made possible because the [[drive]] is "already deeply marked by the articulation of the signifier."<ref>{{S7}} p.293</ref>
The sublime quality of an [[object]] is thus not due to any intrinsic property of the [[object]] itself, but simply an effect of the [[object]]'s position in the [[symbolic]] [[structure]] of [[fantasy]].
===Four==Death Drive=====  
While [[Lacan]] follows [[Freud]] in linking [[sublimation]] with creativity and [[art]], he complicates this by also linking it with the [[death drive]].<ref>{{S4}} p.431</ref>
Several reasons can be adduced to explain this.
 # Firstly, the concept of the [[death drive]] is itself seen as a product of [[Freud]]'s own [[sublimation."<ref>{{S7}} p.212</ref> # Secondly, the [[death drive]] is not only a "destruction drive," but also "a will to crate from zero."<ref>{{S7}} p.212-3</ref> # Thirdly, the sublime object, through being elevated to the dignity of the [[Thing]], exerts a power of fascination which leads ultimately to [[death]] and destruction. 
==See Also==
{{See}}
* [[Art]]
* [[Death drive]]
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* [[Drive]]
* [[Ethics]]
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* [[Fantasy]]
* [[Libido]]
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* [[Structure]]
* [[Thing]]
{{Also}}
== References ==
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