Difference between revisions of "Lack"
Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
{{Top}}manque{{Bottom}} | {{Top}}manque{{Bottom}} | ||
+ | ==Lack and Desire== | ||
The term "[[lack]]" is always related, in [[Lacan]]'s teaching, to [[desire]]. | The term "[[lack]]" is always related, in [[Lacan]]'s teaching, to [[desire]]. | ||
− | + | It is a [[lack]] which causes [[desire]] to arise.<ref>{{S8}} p.139</ref> | |
However, the precise nature of what is [[lack]]ing varies over the course of [[Lacan]]'s [[Works of Jacques Lacan|work]]. | However, the precise nature of what is [[lack]]ing varies over the course of [[Lacan]]'s [[Works of Jacques Lacan|work]]. | ||
− | |||
− | + | ==Lack of Being== | |
− | What is | + | When the term first appears, in 1955, [[lack]] designates first and foremost a [[lack|lack of being]]. |
+ | |||
+ | What is [[desire]]d is [[being]] itself. | ||
<blockquote>Desire is a relation of being to lack. The lack is the lack of being properly speaking. It isn't the lack of this or that, but lack of being whereby the being exists."<ref>{{S2}} p.223</ref></blockquote> | <blockquote>Desire is a relation of being to lack. The lack is the lack of being properly speaking. It isn't the lack of this or that, but lack of being whereby the being exists."<ref>{{S2}} p.223</ref></blockquote> | ||
− | [[Lacan]] returns to this theme in 1958, when he argues that [[desire]] is the [[metonymy]] of the [[lack | + | [[Lacan]] returns to this theme in 1958, when he argues that [[desire]] is the [[metonymy]] of the [[lack|lack of being]] (''[[lack|manque à être]]'').<ref>{{E}} p.259; translated by Sheridan as "want-to-be"</ref> |
− | The [[subject]]'s [[lack | + | The [[subject]]'s [[lack|lack of being]] is "the heart of the analytic experience" and "the very field in which the neurotic's passion is deployed.<ref>{{E}} p.251</ref> |
− | [[Lacan]] contrasts the [[lack | + | [[Lacan]] contrasts the [[lack|lack of being]], which relates to [[desire]], with the [[lack|lack of having]] (''[[lack|manque à avoir]]''), which relates to [[demand]].<ref>{{Ec}} p.730</ref> |
− | + | ||
+ | ==Lack of an Object== | ||
In 1956, [[lack]] comes to designate the [[lack]] of an [[object]]. | In 1956, [[lack]] comes to designate the [[lack]] of an [[object]]. | ||
Line 27: | Line 30: | ||
[[Lacan]] distinguishes between three kinds of [[lack]], according to the nature of the [[object]] which is [[lack]]ing, as shown in the figure below.<ref>{{S4}} p.269</ref> | [[Lacan]] distinguishes between three kinds of [[lack]], according to the nature of the [[object]] which is [[lack]]ing, as shown in the figure below.<ref>{{S4}} p.269</ref> | ||
− | {| style="width: | + | |
− | |+ [[:Image:Lacan-threelacks.jpg|Table of three types of lack of object]]<BR> | + | {| style="width:85%; height:200px" border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" align="center" |
+ | |+ '''[[:Image:Lacan-threelacks.jpg|Table of three types of lack of object]]'''<BR> | ||
! align="center" | AGENT !! align="center" | LACK !! align="center" | OBJECT | ! align="center" | AGENT !! align="center" | LACK !! align="center" | OBJECT | ||
|- | |- | ||
Line 44: | Line 48: | ||
− | Of these three forms of [[lack]], [[castration]] is the most important from the point of view of analytic experience, and the term "[[lack]]" tends to become synonymous with [[castration]]. | + | Of these three forms of [[lack]], [[castration]] is the most important from the point of view of [[treatment|analytic experience]], and the term "[[lack]]" tends to become synonymous with [[castration]]. |
In 1957, when [[Lacan]] introduces the [[algebraic]] [[symbol]] for the [[bar]]red [[Other]] (<strike>A</strike>), [[lack]] comes to designate the [[lack]] of a [[signifier]] in the [[Other]]. | In 1957, when [[Lacan]] introduces the [[algebraic]] [[symbol]] for the [[bar]]red [[Other]] (<strike>A</strike>), [[lack]] comes to designate the [[lack]] of a [[signifier]] in the [[Other]]. | ||
Line 50: | Line 54: | ||
[[Lacan]] introduces the [[symbol]] '''S(<strike>A</strike>)''' to designate "the signifier of a lack in the Other." | [[Lacan]] introduces the [[symbol]] '''S(<strike>A</strike>)''' to designate "the signifier of a lack in the Other." | ||
− | No matter how many [[signifier]]s one adds to the [[signifying chain]], the [[chain]] is always incomplete; it always [[lack]]s the [[signifier]] that | + | No matter how many [[signifier]]s one adds to the [[signifying chain]], the [[chain]] is always [[lack|incomplete]]; it always [[lack]]s the [[signifier]] that could complete it. |
− | This "missing signifier" (written -1 in [[Lacan]]ian [[algebra]]) is constitutive of the [[subject]]. | + | This "[[lack|missing signifier]]" (written ''-1'' in [[Lacan]]ian [[algebra]]) is constitutive of the [[subject]]. |
− | |||
− | |||
==See Also== | ==See Also== | ||
+ | {{See}} | ||
+ | * [[Algebra]] | ||
+ | * [[Desire]] | ||
* [[Being]] | * [[Being]] | ||
+ | || | ||
* [[Castration]] | * [[Castration]] | ||
− | * [[ | + | * [[Object]] |
* [[Phallus]] | * [[Phallus]] | ||
+ | || | ||
* [[Privation]] | * [[Privation]] | ||
− | + | * [[Signifier]] | |
+ | * [[Signifying chain]] | ||
+ | {{Also}} | ||
==References== | ==References== | ||
Line 69: | Line 78: | ||
[[Category:Psychoanalysis]] | [[Category:Psychoanalysis]] | ||
[[Category:Jacques Lacan]] | [[Category:Jacques Lacan]] | ||
− | |||
[[Category:Dictionary]] | [[Category:Dictionary]] | ||
[[Category:Language]] | [[Category:Language]] | ||
[[Category:Symbolic]] | [[Category:Symbolic]] | ||
+ | [[Category:Imaginary]] | ||
+ | [[Category:Real]] | ||
+ | [[Category:Subject]] | ||
+ | [[Category:Desire]] | ||
[[Category:Concepts]] | [[Category:Concepts]] | ||
[[Category:Terms]] | [[Category:Terms]] |
Revision as of 11:32, 21 August 2006
French: manque |
Lack and Desire
The term "lack" is always related, in Lacan's teaching, to desire.
It is a lack which causes desire to arise.[1]
However, the precise nature of what is lacking varies over the course of Lacan's work.
Lack of Being
When the term first appears, in 1955, lack designates first and foremost a lack of being.
What is desired is being itself.
Desire is a relation of being to lack. The lack is the lack of being properly speaking. It isn't the lack of this or that, but lack of being whereby the being exists."[2]
Lacan returns to this theme in 1958, when he argues that desire is the metonymy of the lack of being (manque à être).[3]
The subject's lack of being is "the heart of the analytic experience" and "the very field in which the neurotic's passion is deployed.[4]
Lacan contrasts the lack of being, which relates to desire, with the lack of having (manque à avoir), which relates to demand.[5]
Lack of an Object
In 1956, lack comes to designate the lack of an object.
Lacan distinguishes between three kinds of lack, according to the nature of the object which is lacking, as shown in the figure below.[6]
Of these three forms of lack, castration is the most important from the point of view of analytic experience, and the term "lack" tends to become synonymous with castration.
In 1957, when Lacan introduces the algebraic symbol for the barred Other (A), lack comes to designate the lack of a signifier in the Other.
Lacan introduces the symbol S(A) to designate "the signifier of a lack in the Other."
No matter how many signifiers one adds to the signifying chain, the chain is always incomplete; it always lacks the signifier that could complete it.
This "missing signifier" (written -1 in Lacanian algebra) is constitutive of the subject.
See Also
References
- ↑ Lacan, Jacques. Le Séminaire. Livre VIII. Le transfert, 1960-61. Ed. Jacques-Alain Miller. Paris: Seuil, 1991. p.139
- ↑ 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.223
- ↑ Lacan, Jacques. Écrits: A Selection. Trans. Alan Sheridan. London: Tavistock Publications, 1977. p.259; translated by Sheridan as "want-to-be"
- ↑ Lacan, Jacques. Écrits: A Selection. Trans. Alan Sheridan. London: Tavistock Publications, 1977. p.251
- ↑ Lacan, Jacques. Écrits. Paris: Seuil, 1966. p.730
- ↑ Lacan, Jacques. Le Séminaire. Livre IV. La relation d'objet, 19566-57. Ed. Jacques-Alain Miller. Paris: Seuil, 1991. p.269