Difference between revisions of "Algebra"

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(Jacques Lacan)
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[[Jacques Lacan]] begins to use [[algebraic]] [[symbol]]s in 1955 -- in an attempt to [[formalize]] [[psychoanalysis]].
 
[[Jacques Lacan]] begins to use [[algebraic]] [[symbol]]s in 1955 -- in an attempt to [[formalize]] [[psychoanalysis]].
  
===Formalization of Psychoanalysis===
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<center>''See [[Formalization]]'' for more''</center>
 
 
Three main reasons lie behind this attempt at [[formalization]].
 
 
 
:1. [[Formalization]] is necessary for [[psychoanalysis]] to acquire [[scientific]] status.
 
 
 
:Just as [[Claude Lévi-Strauss]] uses quasi-mathematical formulae in an attempt to set [[anthropology]] on a more [[scientific]] footing, [[Lacan]] attempts to do the same for [[psychoanalysis]]
 
 
 
:[[Lacan]] used quasi-mathematical formulae in an attempt to set [[psychoanalysis]] on a more [[scientific]] footing.
 
 
 
:2. [[Formalization]] can provide a core of [[psychoanalytic theory]] which can be transmitted integrally even to those who have never experienced [[psychoanalytic treatment]].
 
 
 
:The [[matheme|formulae]] thus become an essential aspect of the [[training]] of [[psychoanalysis]] which take their place alongside [[training|training analysis]] as a medium for the transmission of [[psychoanalytic]] [[knowledge]].
 
 
 
:3. [[Formalization]] of [[psychoanalytic theory]] in terms of [[algebraic]] [[symbols]] is a means of preventing [[knowledge|intuitive understanding]], which [[Lacan]] regards as an [[imaginary]] [[lure]] which hinders access to the [[symbolic]].
 
 
 
:Rather than being understood in an intuitive way, the [[algebraic]] [[symbols]] are to be used, manipulated and read in various different ways.<ref>{{E}} p.313</ref>
 
 
 
  
 
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Revision as of 00:53, 8 August 2006

Algebra (Fr. algèbre) is a branch of mathematics -- or logic -- concerned with the properties and relationships of abstract entities represented in symbolic form.


Jacques Lacan

Jacques Lacan begins to use algebraic symbols in 1955 -- in an attempt to formalize psychoanalysis.

See Formalization for more

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The algebraic symbols used by Lacan, which appear principally in the mathemes, schema l and the graph of desire, are listed below, together with their most common meaning.

However, it is important to remember that the symbols do not always refer to the same concept throughout Lacan's work, but are used in different ways as his work develops.

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The most important example of such a shift in meaning is the use of the symbol a which is used in radically different ways in the 1950s and in the 1960s.

Even other symbols which are relatively stable in meaning are occasionally used in very different ways.


Therefore some caution should be exercised when referring to the following list of equivalences.