=====Socrates=====
In the dialogues, [[Socrates]] is essentially in the position of the [[object a]], barren, bringing
forth what is, in effect, the [[signifier]] of the [[subject]].
[[Socrates]] can be read as the pure [[desire|desiring]] [[subject]].
Indeed, this is the force of [[Lacan]]’s (1991) account of [[Alcibaides]], [[Socrates]]’s enamored student.
[[Lacan]] says that [[Socrates]] refuses [[Alcibaides]] because "for [Socrates] there is
nothing in himself worthy of love. His essence was that of ''ouden'', emptiness, hollowness."<ref>Cited in Salecl. 1998. p. 28</ref>
Like the proper response of the [[analyst]], [[Socrates]] does not reciprocate, thus maintaining his emptiness.
In both [[Socrates]] and [[Lacan]], there are two critical dimensions of their position, the fundamental