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It is not only because the [[material]] of the [[unconscious]] is a [[linguistic]] [[material]], or as we say in [[French]] <i>[[langagier]]</i> that the [[unconscious]] is [[structure]]d as a [[language]]. The question that the [[unconscious]] raises for you is a problem that touches the most sensitive point of the nature of [[language]] that is the question of the [[subject]]. The [[subject]] cannot simply be identified with the [[speaker]] or the personal pronoun in a sentence. In [[French]] the <i>[[ennoncé]]</i> is exactly the sentence, but there are many <i>[[ennoncé]]s</i> where there is no [[index]] of him who utters the <i>ennoncé</i>. When I say "it rains," the [[subject]] of the [[enunciation]] is not part of the [[sentence]]. In any case here there is some sort of difficulty. The [[subject]] cannot always be identified with what the [[linguist]]s call "the [[shifter]]."
The question that the nature of the [[unconscious ]] puts before us is in a few words, that something always thinks[[think]]s. [[Freud ]] told us that the [[unconscious ]] is above all thoughts[[thought]]s, and that which thinks [[think]]s is barred [[bar]]red from [[consciousness]]. This [[bar ]] has many applications, many possibilities with regard to meaning. The main one is that it is really a barrier[[bar]]rier, a barrier [[bar]]rier which it is necessary to jump over or to pass through. This is important because if I don't emphasize this barrier [[bar]]rier all is well for you. As we say in [[French]], ça ''ça vous arrange'', because if something thinks in the floor below or underground things are simple; [[thought ]] is always there and all one needs is a little [[consciousness ]] on the [[thought ]] that the living being is naturally thinking and all is well. If such were the case, [[thought ]] would be prepared by [[life]], [[naturally]], such as [[instinct ]] for instance. If [[thought ]] is a [[natural ]] process, then the [[unconscious ]] is without difficulty. But the [[unconscious ]] has nothing to do with [[instinct ]] or primitive [[knowledge ]] or preparation of [[thought ]] in some underground. It is a [[thinking ]] with words[[word]]s, with thoughts [[thought]]s that escape your vigilance, your state of watchfulness. The question of vigilance is important. It is as if a demon plays a game with your watchfulness. The question is to find a precise status for this [[other ]] [[subject ]] which is exactly the sort of [[subject ]] that we can determine taking our point of departure in [[language]].
When I prepared this little talk for you, it was early in the morning. I could see Baltimore through the window and it was a very interesting moment because it was not quite daylight and a neon sign indicated to me every minute the change of time, and naturally there was heavy traffic and I remarked to myself that exactly all that I could see, except for some trees in the distance, was the result of thoughts actively thinking thoughts, where the function played by the subjects was not completely obvious. In any case the so-called <i>Dasein</i> as a definition of the subject, was there in this rather intermittent or fading spectator. The best image to sum up the unconscious is Baltimore in the early morning.
