Difference between revisions of "Desire"

From No Subject - Encyclopedia of Psychoanalysis
Jump to: navigation, search
Line 1: Line 1:
  
  
−
The term '[[desire]]' ([[French]]: ''[[désir]]'') is located at the center of [[Lacanian]] [[psychoanalysis]].
+
[[Desire]] ([[French]]: ''[[désir]]'') is a major concept of [[psychoanalytic theory]].
  
 
The concept of [[desire]] is the central concern of [[psychoanalytic [theory]].
 
The concept of [[desire]] is the central concern of [[psychoanalytic [theory]].
  
 +
==Human Desire==
 +
[[Lacan]], following [[Spinoza]], argues that "[[desire]]" is the essence of man."<ref>{{S11}} p.275</ref>
  
−
==Human Existence==
+
[[Desire]] is the heart of [[human]] [[existence]], fundamental to every aspect of the [[psychic]] [[life]] of the [[individual]] and to the [[social]] [[system]] in which the [[individual]] finds him or herself embedded.
−
[[Desire]] is the heart of [[human]] [[existence]].
 
−
[[Lacan]], following [[Spinoza]], argues that "[[desire]]" is the essence of man."<ref>{{S11}} p.275</ref>
 
−
[[Desire]] is fundamental to every aspect of the [[psychic]] [[life]] of the [[individual]] and to the [[social]] [[system]] in which the [[individual]] finds him or herself embedded.
 
  
 +
[[Desire]] provides the [[subject]] with its primary motivation and [[frustration]].
  
 
==Desire, Need and Demand==
 
==Desire, Need and Demand==
−
 
  
 
[[Lacan]] distinguishes between three related concepts:
 
[[Lacan]] distinguishes between three related concepts:
 
* [[desire]]
 
* [[desire]]
−
* [[need]]
+
* [[need]] (''besoin'')
−
* [[demand]]
+
* [[demand]] (''demande'')
  
−
Lacan has linked the concept of 'desire' with 'need' (besoin) and 'demand' (demande) in the following way.
+
==Need==
  
−
The [[human]] [[infant]] is born with fundamental [[biological]] [[need]]s that require (constant or periodic) [[satisfaction]].
+
The [[human]] [[infant]] is born with certain [[biological]] [[need]]s that require (constant or periodic) [[satisfaction]].
  
−
(The [[human]] [[infant]], being born into a state of [[helplessness]], is unable to [[satisfy]] its own [[needs]], and thus depends on the [[Other]] to help it [[satisfy]] them.)
+
The [[human]] [[infant]] has certain [[biological]] [[need]]s which are satisfied by certain [[object]]s.
  
−
(The [[infant]], unable to [[satisfy]] its own [[needs]], depends on the [[Other]] to help it [[satisfy]] them.)
+
[[Need]] is a [[biological]] [[instinct]] that requires (constant or periodic) [[satisfaction]].
  
−
[[Need]] is a [[biological]] [[instinct]].
 
 
[[Need]] emerges according to the requirements of the organism and abates completely (even if only temporarily) when [[satisfied]].
 
[[Need]] emerges according to the requirements of the organism and abates completely (even if only temporarily) when [[satisfied]].
  
 +
The [[human]] [[infant]] is born into a state of [[helplessness]], and is unable to [[satisfy]] its own [[biological]] [[needs]].
  
−
The [[human]] [[infant]] is born into a state of [[helplessness]].
+
The [[infant]], unable to [[satisfy]] its own [[needs]], must depend on the [[Other]] to help it [[satisfy]] them.
  
−
The [[infant]] must depend on the [[Other]] to help it [[satisfy]] its own [[needs]].
+
The [[Other]] can help to [[satisfy]] the [[need]]s of the [[infant]].
  
−
The [[human]] [[infant]] has certain [[biological]] [[need]]s which are satisfied by certain [[object]]s.
+
The [[Other]] can provide the [[object]]s which the [[subject]] requires to satisfy his [[need]]s.
  
−
The [[infant]], in order to get help from the [[Other]], must articulate (express) its [[need]]s (vocally) in (the form of a) [[demand]].
+
==Demand==
  
−
The [[infant]], in order to [[satisfy]] its own [[need]]s, must engage in the [[dialectic]] of [[exchange]] with others.
+
The function of [[demand]] is to serve as an articulation of [[need]].
  
 +
The [[infant]], in order to get help from the [[Other]], must articulate (express) its [[need]]s (vocally) in (the form of a) [[demand]].
  
 
The [[demand]] serves to bring the [[Other]] to help [[satisfy]] the [[needs]] of the [[infant]].
 
The [[demand]] serves to bring the [[Other]] to help [[satisfy]] the [[needs]] of the [[infant]].
−
 
−
The [[demand]]s of the [[infant]] is for the [[Other]] to help [[satisfy]] its [[needs]]
 
−
 
−
The function of [[demand]] is to serve as an articulation of [[need]].
 
  
 
[[Demand]] is also a [[demand]] for [[love]] (beyond the [[satisfaction]] of [[need]]).
 
[[Demand]] is also a [[demand]] for [[love]] (beyond the [[satisfaction]] of [[need]]).
  
−
The [[presence]] of the [[Other]] becomes important in itself.
+
The [[presence]] of the [[Other]] (becomes important in itself) [[symbolizes]] the [[Other]]'s [[love]].
  
−
The [[presence]] of the [[Other]] [[symbolizes]] the [[Other]]'s [[love]].
+
The [[biological]] [[need]]s of the [[infant]] becomes subordinated to the [[demand]] for the [[recognition]] and [[love]] of the [[Other]].  
  
 
The [[need]]s which are articulated in [[demand]]s are [[satisfied]].
 
The [[need]]s which are articulated in [[demand]]s are [[satisfied]].
  
−
Even after the [[need]]s which are articulated in [[demand]]s are [[satisfied]], [[demand]] (as the [[demand]] for [[love]]) remains [[unsatisfied]].
+
The [[Other]] can provide the [[object]]s which the [[subject]] requires to satisfy his [[need]]s, but cannot provide that unconditional [[love]] which the [[infant]] craves.  
  
−
This leftover is [[desire]].
+
The [[Other]] (can [[satisfy]] the [[need]]s that are articulated in the [[demand]]s of the [[infant]] but) cannot [[satisfy]] the [[infant]]'s [[demand]] for [[love]].
  
−
[[Desire]] is what remains of [[demand]] after the [[need]]s which are articulated in that [[demand]] are [[satisfied]].
+
Even after the [[need]]s which are articulated in [[demand]]s are [[satisfied]], [[demand]] (as the [[demand]] for [[love]]) remains [[unsatisfied]]
  
−
However, whereas the Other can provide the objects which the subject requires to satisfy his needs, the Other cannot provide that unconditional love which the subject craves.  
+
This leftover is [[desire]].
  
−
The [[Other]] can help to [[satisfy]] the [[need]]s of the [[infant]].
+
==Desire==
−
 
 
−
The [[Other]] cannot provide that unconditional [[love]] which the [[infant]] craves.
 
−
 
 
−
The [[biological]] [[need]]s of the individual is that they have become inseparable from, and importantly subordinated to, the vicissitudes of its demand for the recognition and love of other people.
 
−
 
 
−
The [[Other]] can [[satisfy]] the [[need]]s that are articulated in the [[demand]]s of the [[infant]].
 
−
 
 
−
The [[Other]] cannot [[satisfy]] the [[infant]]'s [[demand]] for [[love]].
 
  
 +
[[Desire]] is what remains of [[demand]] after the [[need]]s which are articulated in that [[demand]] are [[satisfied]].
  
 
<blockquote>"[[Desire]] is neither the appetite for [[satisfaction]], nor the [[demand]] for [[love]], but the difference that results from the subtraction of the first from the second."<ref>{{E}} p.287</ref></blockquote>
 
<blockquote>"[[Desire]] is neither the appetite for [[satisfaction]], nor the [[demand]] for [[love]], but the difference that results from the subtraction of the first from the second."<ref>{{E}} p.287</ref></blockquote>
Line 82: Line 71:
 
<blockquote>"[[Desire]] begins to take shape in the margin in which [[demand]] becomes separated from [[need]]."<ref>{{E}} p.311</ref></blockquote>
 
<blockquote>"[[Desire]] begins to take shape in the margin in which [[demand]] becomes separated from [[need]]."<ref>{{E}} p.311</ref></blockquote>
  
−
[[Need]] can be [[satisfied]].
+
[[Desire]], unlike [[need]], can never be [[satisfied]].
  
 
A [[need]] (that is [[satisfied]]) ceases to motivate the [[infant]] until another [[need]] arises.
 
A [[need]] (that is [[satisfied]]) ceases to motivate the [[infant]] until another [[need]] arises.
−
 
−
[[Desire]] can never be [[satisfied]].
 
−
 
−
(There is no adequation between the need and the demand that conveys it.)
 
−
 
−
The distance between [[need]] and [[demand]] constitutes [[desire]].
 
−
 
  
 
[[Desire]] is constant in its pressure, and eternal.  
 
[[Desire]] is constant in its pressure, and eternal.  
−
 
−
The realization of [[desire]] does not consist in being 'fulfilled', but in the reproduction of [[desire]] as such.
 
−
 
−
 
−
==Animal and Human Desire==
 
−
[[Lacan]]'s distinction between [[need]] and [[desire]] lifts the concept of [[desire]] completely out of the realm of [[biology]].
 
−
 
−
 
−
 
−
[[Desire]] is [[human]] when it is directed toward another [[desire]] or to an [[object]] that is "'perfectly useless from the biological point of view."<ref>Kojeve. 1947. p.6</ref>
 
  
  
Line 109: Line 81:
  
 
[[Lacan]] asserted that [[desire]] is the [[desire]] of the [[Other]].
 
[[Lacan]] asserted that [[desire]] is the [[desire]] of the [[Other]].
 +
 +
[[Desire]] is [[human]] when it is directed toward another [[desire]].
  
 
<blockquote>"[[Man]]'s [[desire]] is the [[desire]] of the [[Other]].<ref>{{S11}} p.235</ref></blockquote>
 
<blockquote>"[[Man]]'s [[desire]] is the [[desire]] of the [[Other]].<ref>{{S11}} p.235</ref></blockquote>
  
 +
The statement provides the basis for our consideration of [[desire]] in [[Lacan]]’s conception of [[subjectivity]] and points to the fundamentally social character of [[desire]].
  
−
 
+
==Object of the Other's Desire==
−
 
 
−
ONE
 
  
 
[[Desire]] is the [[desire]] for the [[Other]]'s [[desire]], that is, the [[desire]] to be the [[object]] of the [[Other]]'s [[desire]].
 
[[Desire]] is the [[desire]] for the [[Other]]'s [[desire]], that is, the [[desire]] to be the [[object]] of the [[Other]]'s [[desire]].
Line 123: Line 96:
 
The [[Oedipus complex]] illustrates the [[desire]] of the [[subject]] to be the [[phallus]] for the [[mother]].
 
The [[Oedipus complex]] illustrates the [[desire]] of the [[subject]] to be the [[phallus]] for the [[mother]].
  
−
 
+
==Object Desired by Others==
−
 
 
−
TWO
 
  
 
<blockquote>"The [[object]] of [[man]]'s [[desire]] ... is essentially an [[object]] [[desire]]d by someone else."<ref>Lacan. 1951b. p.12</ref></blockquote>
 
<blockquote>"The [[object]] of [[man]]'s [[desire]] ... is essentially an [[object]] [[desire]]d by someone else."<ref>Lacan. 1951b. p.12</ref></blockquote>
  
 
The [[object]] is [[desirable]] (not due to any intrinsic quality but) because [[other]]s [[desire]] it.
 
The [[object]] is [[desirable]] (not due to any intrinsic quality but) because [[other]]s [[desire]] it.
−
 
−
The [[object]] is [[desirable]] (not due to any intrinsic quality but) because it is [[desire]]d by [[other]]s.
 
  
 
It is qua [[Other]] that the [[subject]] [[desire]]s.<ref>{{E}} p.312</ref>
 
It is qua [[Other]] that the [[subject]] [[desire]]s.<ref>{{E}} p.312</ref>
Line 137: Line 106:
 
It is [[human]] to [[desire]] what others [[desire]] because they [[desire]] it.
 
It is [[human]] to [[desire]] what others [[desire]] because they [[desire]] it.
  
−
THREE
+
==Desire for the Other==
 
[[Desire]] is [[desire]] for the [[Other]].
 
[[Desire]] is [[desire]] for the [[Other]].
  
 
The fundamental [[desire]] is the [[incestuous]] [[desire]] for the [[mother]], the primordial [[Other]].<ref>{{S7}} p.67</ref>
 
The fundamental [[desire]] is the [[incestuous]] [[desire]] for the [[mother]], the primordial [[Other]].<ref>{{S7}} p.67</ref>
  
−
FOUR
+
==Impossible Desire==
  
 
<blockquote>[[Desire]] is always "the [[desire]] for something else," because it is impossible to [[desire]] what one already has.<ref>{{E}} p.167</ref></blockquote>
 
<blockquote>[[Desire]] is always "the [[desire]] for something else," because it is impossible to [[desire]] what one already has.<ref>{{E}} p.167</ref></blockquote>
Line 148: Line 117:
 
The [[object]] of [[desire]] is continually deferred, which is why [[desire]] is [[metonymy]].<ref>{{E}} p.175</ref>
 
The [[object]] of [[desire]] is continually deferred, which is why [[desire]] is [[metonymy]].<ref>{{E}} p.175</ref>
  
−
FIVE
+
==Social Desire==
 +
 
 
[[Desire]] emerges originally in the field of the [[Other]], that is, in the [[unconscious]].
 
[[Desire]] emerges originally in the field of the [[Other]], that is, in the [[unconscious]].
  
Line 155: Line 125:
  
 
<blockquote>The most important point to emerge from Lacan’s phrase [that "the object of man’s desire […] is essentially an object desired by someone else" (qtd. in Evans 38)] is that desire is a social product. Desire is not the private affair it appears to be but is always constituted in a dialectical relationship with the perceived desires of other subjects."<ref>Evans 39</ref></blockquote>
 
<blockquote>The most important point to emerge from Lacan’s phrase [that "the object of man’s desire […] is essentially an object desired by someone else" (qtd. in Evans 38)] is that desire is a social product. Desire is not the private affair it appears to be but is always constituted in a dialectical relationship with the perceived desires of other subjects."<ref>Evans 39</ref></blockquote>
−
 
−
The statement provides the basis for our consideration of desire in Lacan’s conception of subjectivity, and points to the fundamentally social character of desire.
 
−
 
−
 
  
  
Line 165: Line 131:
 
The [[objet petit a]] is represented by a variety of [[partial object]]s in diffent partial [[drive]]s.
 
The [[objet petit a]] is represented by a variety of [[partial object]]s in diffent partial [[drive]]s.
  
−
The [[objet petit a]] is not the object towards which desire tends, but the cause of desire.
+
The [[objet petit a]] is not the object towards which [[desire]] tends, but the cause of desire.
  
 
[[Desire]] is not a relation to an [[object]], but a relation to a [[lack]].
 
[[Desire]] is not a relation to an [[object]], but a relation to a [[lack]].
  
  
 +
==Desire and Prohibition==
  
−
 
+
<blockquote>The [[law]] (or [[prohibition]]) "creates [[desire]] in the first place by creating interdiction. [[Desire]] is essentially the [[desire]] to [[transgress]], and for there to be [[transgression]] it is first necessary for there to be [[prohibition]]."<ref>{{Evans}} p.99</ref></blockquote>
−
 
 
−
 
 
−
LAW
 
−
 
 
−
The [[prohibition]] of ''[[jouissance]]'' (or '[[enjoyment]]')
 
−
 
 
−
the prohibition on fulfillment of desire which provides the most stimulus for its reproduction.
 
−
 
 
−
 
 
−
<blockquote>The [[law]] (or [[prohibition]]) "creates [[desire]] in the first place by creating interdiction. [[Desire]] is essentially the [[desire]] to [[transgress]], and for there to be [[transgression]] it is first necessary for there to be [[prohibition]]."<ref>Evans 99</ref></blockquote>
 
  
 
The [[law]] gives rise to [[desire]] as that which circulates endlessly around a [[prohibited]] core (of ''[[jouissance]]'').
 
The [[law]] gives rise to [[desire]] as that which circulates endlessly around a [[prohibited]] core (of ''[[jouissance]]'').
Line 187: Line 144:
 
(The [[prohibition]] establishes [[desire]] as the ultimate motivational force in [[subjectivity]].)
 
(The [[prohibition]] establishes [[desire]] as the ultimate motivational force in [[subjectivity]].)
  
−
 
+
==Desire and Psychoanalytic Treatment==
−
 
 
−
TREATMENT
 
 
The [[aim]] of [[psychoanalytic]] [[treatment]] is to lead the [[analysand]] to recognize the [[truth]] about his or her [[desire]].
 
The [[aim]] of [[psychoanalytic]] [[treatment]] is to lead the [[analysand]] to recognize the [[truth]] about his or her [[desire]].
  
Line 198: Line 153:
 
<blockquote>In [[psychoanalysis]], "what's important is to teach the [[subject]] to name, to articulate, to bring this [[desire]] into [[existence]]."<ref>{{S2}} p.228</ref></blockquote>
 
<blockquote>In [[psychoanalysis]], "what's important is to teach the [[subject]] to name, to articulate, to bring this [[desire]] into [[existence]]."<ref>{{S2}} p.228</ref></blockquote>
  
−
There is a limit to how far desire can be articulated in speech because of a fundamental “incompatibility between desire and speech.”<ref>{{E}} p.275</ref>
+
There is a limit to how far [[desire]] can be articulated in [[speech]] because of a fundamental "incompatibility between [[desire]] and [[speech]]."<ref>{{E}} p.275</ref>
−
 
 
−
(This incompatibility which explains the irreducibility of the unconscious (i.e. the fact that the unconscious is not that which is not known, but that which cannot be known).)
 
−
 
 
−
The [[analysand]] does not simply give expression to a pre-existing [[desire]].
 
  
−
The [[analysand]], by articulating [[desire]] in [[speech]], brings that [[desire]] into [[existence]].
+
The [[analysand]], by articulating [[desire]] in [[speech]], (does not simply give expression to a pre-existing [[desire]] but rather) brings that [[desire]] into [[existence]].
  
 
<blockquote>"That the [[subject]] should come to recognise and to name his [[desire]]; that is the efficacious action of [[analysis]]. But it isn't a question of [[recognising]] something which would be entirely given. ... In naming it, the [[subject]] creates, brings forth, a new [[presence]] in the world."<ref>{{S2}} p.228-9</ref></blockquote>
 
<blockquote>"That the [[subject]] should come to recognise and to name his [[desire]]; that is the efficacious action of [[analysis]]. But it isn't a question of [[recognising]] something which would be entirely given. ... In naming it, the [[subject]] creates, brings forth, a new [[presence]] in the world."<ref>{{S2}} p.228-9</ref></blockquote>
−
 
−
 
−
 
  
 
<blockquote>"Although the [[truth]] about [[desire]] is present to some degree in all [[speech]], [[speech]] can never articulate the whole [[truth]] about [[desire]]; whenever [[speech]] attempts to articulate [[desire]], there is always a leftover, a [[surplus]], which exceeds [[speech]]."<ref>Evans 36</ref></blockquote>
 
<blockquote>"Although the [[truth]] about [[desire]] is present to some degree in all [[speech]], [[speech]] can never articulate the whole [[truth]] about [[desire]]; whenever [[speech]] attempts to articulate [[desire]], there is always a leftover, a [[surplus]], which exceeds [[speech]]."<ref>Evans 36</ref></blockquote>
  
−
innate incapacity of [[language]] fully to articulate [[desire]]
+
==Desire and Language==
−
 
 
  
−
LAW
 
−
[[Desire]] is created at the moment the [[infant]] becomes a [[subject]].
 
 
[[Desire]] is created at the moment of the [[infant]]'s accession to the [[symbolic]] [[order]].
 
[[Desire]] is created at the moment of the [[infant]]'s accession to the [[symbolic]] [[order]].
  
−
it is endemic to (inseparable from) the [[symbolic]] [[order]] and thus inhabits all signification, providing the subject with its primary motivation and frustration.
+
[[Desire]] is inseparable from the [[symbolic]] [[order]] and thus inhabits all (inheres in) [[signification]] (as such).
−
 
 
−
[[Desire]] is fundamentally [[metonymic]] and inheres in [[signification]] as such.  
 
  
 
[[Desire]] is inscribed in the [[signifying chain]] in its essential [[metonymy]].
 
[[Desire]] is inscribed in the [[signifying chain]] in its essential [[metonymy]].
Line 228: Line 171:
 
<blockquote>"[[Man]]’s [[desire]] is a [[metonymy]]. [...] [[Desire]] is a [[metonymy]]."<ref>{{E}} p.175</ref></blockquote>
 
<blockquote>"[[Man]]’s [[desire]] is a [[metonymy]]. [...] [[Desire]] is a [[metonymy]]."<ref>{{E}} p.175</ref></blockquote>
  
−
The perpetual reference of one [[signifer]] to another in an eternal deferral of [[meaning]] (as content, as 'consisting' in any one [[sign]], as present in any way) is a formulation of the ceaseless movement of [[desire]].
+
The perpetual reference of one [[signifer]] to another in an eternal deferral of [[meaning]] is a formulation of the ceaseless movement of [[desire]].
  
 
==Impossible Desire==
 
==Impossible Desire==
  
−
any attempt to satisfy desire is always undercut by a residue that remains unattainable.
+
According to [[Lacan]], [[desire]] is by its very nature [[insatiable]]; it can never be fulfilled.
  
−
In [[Lacan]]ian [[psychoanalysis]], the term '''desire''' designates the impossible relation that a [[subject (philosophy)|subject]] has with [[objet petit a]].
+
Any attempt to [[satisfy]] [[desire]] is always undercut by a residue that remains unattainable.
  
−
According to Lacan, desire proper (in contrast with [[demand (psychoanalysis)|demand]]) can never be fulfilled.
+
[[Desire]] designates the impossible relation that a [[subject]] has with [[objet petit a]].
  
 
The core around which [[desire]] circulates is [[prohibited]].
 
The core around which [[desire]] circulates is [[prohibited]].
  
−
The [[prohibition]] is simply the articulation of a pre-existing [[impossibility]].
+
==Desire and Impossibility==
−
 
 
−
[[Desire]] is by its very nature [[insatiable]].
 
−
 
 
 
The important aspect of the paternal interdiction that inaugurates the infant’s traumatic accession to the symbolic order is that what the word-of-the-father interdicts is in fact an impossibility.  
 
The important aspect of the paternal interdiction that inaugurates the infant’s traumatic accession to the symbolic order is that what the word-of-the-father interdicts is in fact an impossibility.  
  
Line 250: Line 190:
 
The paternal interdiction only formalises this impossibility as a prohibition, covering it over with the compensation of symbolisation.
 
The paternal interdiction only formalises this impossibility as a prohibition, covering it over with the compensation of symbolisation.
  
−
Likewise, the prohibitive aspect of the law is merely a socially institutionalised form of the fundamental impossibility at the heart of desire.  
+
The prohibitive aspect of the [[law]] is merely a socially institutionalised form of the fundamental [[impossibility]] at the heart of desire.  
  
−
In the name of the social good a society may prohibit certain kinds or objects of desire, but the reality is that no object can ever fulfil desire.  
+
No [[object]] can ever fulfil [[desire]].  
  
 
==Desire and the Death Drive==
 
==Desire and the Death Drive==
Line 258: Line 198:
 
[[Lacan]] posits a distinction between [[desire]] and [[drive]].
 
[[Lacan]] posits a distinction between [[desire]] and [[drive]].
  
−
It is important to distinguish between desire and the drives.  
+
It is important to distinguish between [[desire]] and the [[drive]]s.  
 +
 
 +
The [[drive]]s are the particular (partial) manifestations of a single force called [[desire]].
 +
 
  
−
The drives are the particular (partial) manifestations of a single force called desire.
 
  
−
==Unsorted==
+
==See Also==
−
it is at base a quest for presence, the possibility of which is precluded by the mechanism of signification
+
* [[Need]]
 +
* [[Drive]]
 +
* [[Demand]]
  
 +
==References==
 +
<references/>
 
[[Category:Jacques Lacan]]
 
[[Category:Jacques Lacan]]
 
[[Category:Terms]]
 
[[Category:Terms]]
 
[[Category:Concepts]]
 
[[Category:Concepts]]
 
[[Category:Psychoanalysis]]
 
[[Category:Psychoanalysis]]

Revision as of 10:14, 29 June 2006


Desire (French: désir) is a major concept of psychoanalytic theory.

The concept of desire is the central concern of [[psychoanalytic [theory]].

Human Desire

Lacan, following Spinoza, argues that "desire" is the essence of man."[1]

Desire is the heart of human existence, fundamental to every aspect of the psychic life of the individual and to the social system in which the individual finds him or herself embedded.

Desire provides the subject with its primary motivation and frustration.

Desire, Need and Demand

Lacan distinguishes between three related concepts:

Need

The human infant is born with certain biological needs that require (constant or periodic) satisfaction.

The human infant has certain biological needs which are satisfied by certain objects.

Need is a biological instinct that requires (constant or periodic) satisfaction.

Need emerges according to the requirements of the organism and abates completely (even if only temporarily) when satisfied.

The human infant is born into a state of helplessness, and is unable to satisfy its own biological needs.

The infant, unable to satisfy its own needs, must depend on the Other to help it satisfy them.

The Other can help to satisfy the needs of the infant.

The Other can provide the objects which the subject requires to satisfy his needs.

Demand

The function of demand is to serve as an articulation of need.

The infant, in order to get help from the Other, must articulate (express) its needs (vocally) in (the form of a) demand.

The demand serves to bring the Other to help satisfy the needs of the infant.

Demand is also a demand for love (beyond the satisfaction of need).

The presence of the Other (becomes important in itself) symbolizes the Other's love.

The biological needs of the infant becomes subordinated to the demand for the recognition and love of the Other.

The needs which are articulated in demands are satisfied.

The Other can provide the objects which the subject requires to satisfy his needs, but cannot provide that unconditional love which the infant craves.

The Other (can satisfy the needs that are articulated in the demands of the infant but) cannot satisfy the infant's demand for love.

Even after the needs which are articulated in demands are satisfied, demand (as the demand for love) remains unsatisfied

This leftover is desire.

Desire

Desire is what remains of demand after the needs which are articulated in that demand are satisfied.

"Desire is neither the appetite for satisfaction, nor the demand for love, but the difference that results from the subtraction of the first from the second."[2]

Desire is the surplus produced by the articulation of need in demand.

"Desire begins to take shape in the margin in which demand becomes separated from need."[3]

Desire, unlike need, can never be satisfied.

A need (that is satisfied) ceases to motivate the infant until another need arises.

Desire is constant in its pressure, and eternal.


Desire of the Other

Lacan asserted that desire is the desire of the Other.

Desire is human when it is directed toward another desire.

"Man's desire is the desire of the Other.[4]

The statement provides the basis for our consideration of desire in Lacan’s conception of subjectivity and points to the fundamentally social character of desire.

Object of the Other's Desire

Desire is the desire for the Other's desire, that is, the desire to be the object of the Other's desire.

Desire is a desire for 'recognition' (by another).

The Oedipus complex illustrates the desire of the subject to be the phallus for the mother.

Object Desired by Others

"The object of man's desire ... is essentially an object desired by someone else."[5]

The object is desirable (not due to any intrinsic quality but) because others desire it.

It is qua Other that the subject desires.[6]

It is human to desire what others desire because they desire it.

Desire for the Other

Desire is desire for the Other.

The fundamental desire is the incestuous desire for the mother, the primordial Other.[7]

Impossible Desire

Desire is always "the desire for something else," because it is impossible to desire what one already has.[8]

The object of desire is continually deferred, which is why desire is metonymy.[9]

Social Desire

Desire emerges originally in the field of the Other, that is, in the unconscious.

Desire is a social product. Desire is not the private affair it appears to be, but is always constituted in a dialectical relationship with the perceived desires of others.

The most important point to emerge from Lacan’s phrase [that "the object of man’s desire […] is essentially an object desired by someone else" (qtd. in Evans 38)] is that desire is a social product. Desire is not the private affair it appears to be but is always constituted in a dialectical relationship with the perceived desires of other subjects."[10]


OBJET A The objet petit a is represented by a variety of partial objects in diffent partial drives.

The objet petit a is not the object towards which desire tends, but the cause of desire.

Desire is not a relation to an object, but a relation to a lack.


Desire and Prohibition

The law (or prohibition) "creates desire in the first place by creating interdiction. Desire is essentially the desire to transgress, and for there to be transgression it is first necessary for there to be prohibition."[11]

The law gives rise to desire as that which circulates endlessly around a prohibited core (of jouissance).

(The prohibition establishes desire as the ultimate motivational force in subjectivity.)

Desire and Psychoanalytic Treatment

The aim of psychoanalytic treatment is to lead the analysand to recognize the truth about his or her desire.

It is only possible to recognize one's desire when it is articulate in speech.

"It is only once it is formulated, named in the presence of the other, that desire, whatever it is, is recognised in the full sense of the term."[12]

In psychoanalysis, "what's important is to teach the subject to name, to articulate, to bring this desire into existence."[13]

There is a limit to how far desire can be articulated in speech because of a fundamental "incompatibility between desire and speech."[14]

The analysand, by articulating desire in speech, (does not simply give expression to a pre-existing desire but rather) brings that desire into existence.

"That the subject should come to recognise and to name his desire; that is the efficacious action of analysis. But it isn't a question of recognising something which would be entirely given. ... In naming it, the subject creates, brings forth, a new presence in the world."[15]

"Although the truth about desire is present to some degree in all speech, speech can never articulate the whole truth about desire; whenever speech attempts to articulate desire, there is always a leftover, a surplus, which exceeds speech."[16]

Desire and Language

Desire is created at the moment of the infant's accession to the symbolic order.

Desire is inseparable from the symbolic order and thus inhabits all (inheres in) signification (as such).

Desire is inscribed in the signifying chain in its essential metonymy.

"Man’s desire is a metonymy. [...] Desire is a metonymy."[17]

The perpetual reference of one signifer to another in an eternal deferral of meaning is a formulation of the ceaseless movement of desire.

Impossible Desire

According to Lacan, desire is by its very nature insatiable; it can never be fulfilled.

Any attempt to satisfy desire is always undercut by a residue that remains unattainable.

Desire designates the impossible relation that a subject has with objet petit a.

The core around which desire circulates is prohibited.

Desire and Impossibility

The important aspect of the paternal interdiction that inaugurates the infant’s traumatic accession to the symbolic order is that what the word-of-the-father interdicts is in fact an impossibility.

The infant’s sought-after direct identification with the mother is impossible.

The paternal interdiction only formalises this impossibility as a prohibition, covering it over with the compensation of symbolisation.

The prohibitive aspect of the law is merely a socially institutionalised form of the fundamental impossibility at the heart of desire.

No object can ever fulfil desire.

Desire and the Death Drive

Lacan posits a distinction between desire and drive.

It is important to distinguish between desire and the drives.

The drives are the particular (partial) manifestations of a single force called desire.


See Also

References

  1. ↑ Lacan, Jacques. The Seminar. Book XI. The Four Fundamental Concepts of Psychoanalysis, 1964. Trans. Alan Sheridan. London: Hogarth Press and Institute of Psycho-Analysis, 1977. p.275
  2. ↑ Lacan, Jacques. Écrits: A Selection. Trans. Alan Sheridan. London: Tavistock Publications, 1977. p.287
  3. ↑ Lacan, Jacques. Écrits: A Selection. Trans. Alan Sheridan. London: Tavistock Publications, 1977. p.311
  4. ↑ Lacan, Jacques. The Seminar. Book XI. The Four Fundamental Concepts of Psychoanalysis, 1964. Trans. Alan Sheridan. London: Hogarth Press and Institute of Psycho-Analysis, 1977. p.235
  5. ↑ Lacan. 1951b. p.12
  6. ↑ Lacan, Jacques. Écrits: A Selection. Trans. Alan Sheridan. London: Tavistock Publications, 1977. p.312
  7. ↑ Lacan, Jacques. The Seminar. Book VII. The Ethics of Psychoanalysis, 1959-60. Trans. Dennis Porter. London: Routledge, 1992. p.67
  8. ↑ Lacan, Jacques. Écrits: A Selection. Trans. Alan Sheridan. London: Tavistock Publications, 1977. p.167
  9. ↑ Lacan, Jacques. Écrits: A Selection. Trans. Alan Sheridan. London: Tavistock Publications, 1977. p.175
  10. ↑ Evans 39
  11. ↑ Evans, Dylan. An Introductory Dictionary of Lacanian Psychoanalysis. 2003. New York: Brunner-Routledge. p.99
  12. ↑ Lacan, Jacques. The Seminar. Book I. Freud's Papers on Technique, 1953-54. Trans. John Forrester. New York: Nortion; Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988. p.183
  13. ↑ Lacan, Jacques. The Seminar. Book II. The Ego in Freud's Theory and in the Technique of Psychoanalysis, 1954-55. Trans. Sylvana Tomaselli. New York: Nortion; Cambridge: Cambridge Unviersity Press, 1988. p.228
  14. ↑ Lacan, Jacques. Écrits: A Selection. Trans. Alan Sheridan. London: Tavistock Publications, 1977. p.275
  15. ↑ Lacan, Jacques. The Seminar. Book II. The Ego in Freud's Theory and in the Technique of Psychoanalysis, 1954-55. Trans. Sylvana Tomaselli. New York: Nortion; Cambridge: Cambridge Unviersity Press, 1988. p.228-9
  16. ↑ Evans 36
  17. ↑ Lacan, Jacques. Écrits: A Selection. Trans. Alan Sheridan. London: Tavistock Publications, 1977. p.175
Retrieved from "https://nosubject.com/index.php?title=Desire&oldid=9182"