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| | + | "[[matheme]]" (''[[mathème]]'') |
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| − | The '''[[matheme]]''' is a concept introduced by [[France|French]] [[psychoanalyst]] [[Jacques Lacan]]. | + | The term "[[matheme]]" is a neologism which [[Lacan]] derives from the word "[[mathematics]]" presumably by analogy with the term ''mytheme'' (a term coined by [[Claude Lévi-Strauss]] to denote the basic constituents of mythological systems). |
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| − | [[Matheme]]s are [[formulae]], designed as [[symbol]]ic [[representation]]s of his [[psychoanalytic]] [[concepts]]s. | + | The [[matheme]]s are part of [[Lacan]]ian [[algebra]]. |
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| − | The term '[[matheme]]'' is a neologism coined by [[Jacques Lacan]] in the early 1950s.
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| − | Formed by derivation from '[[mathematics]]' and by analogy with [[phoneme]] and Levi-Strauss's [[mytheme]], the term is an equivalent to ''mathematical sign'.
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| − | [[Lacan]] begins to use a variety of graphs and 'schemata' at any early stage in is work. | + | Although the term [[matheme]] is not introduced by [[Lacan]] until the early 1970s, the two formulae which are most often referred to as [[matheme]]s date from 1957. |
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| − | They were intended to introduce some degree of technical rigour in [[philosophical]] and [[psychological]] writing, as an easy way to hold, remember, and rehearse some of the core [[psychoanalytic]] [[concepts]]s.
| + | These formulae, which were both created to designate points in the [[graph of desire]], are the [[matheme]] for the [[drive]], ($ * D), and the [[matheme]] for [[fantasy]], ($ * ''a''). |
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| − | "[[Matheme]]", for [[Lacan]], was not simply the imitation of [[science]] by [[philosophy]], but the ideal of a perfect means for the integral transmission of [[knowledge]].
| + | The structural parallel between the two [[matheme]]s is clear; they are both composed of two [[algebra]]ic symbols conjoined by a rhomboid (the symbol *, which [[Lacan]] calls the ''poinçon'') and enclosed by brackets. |
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| − | ==Mathemes==
| + | The rhomboid symbolizes a relation between the two symbols, which includes the relations of "envelopment-development-conjunction-disjunction."<ref>{{E}} p.280</ref> |
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| − | The main [[Lacan]]ian [[matheme]]s in order of their appearance are:
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| − | In 1955, he introduced what could be called his first [[matheme]], [[schema L]], illustrating the [[imaginary]] function of the [[ego]].
| + | [[Lacan]] argues that the [[matheme]]s are "not transcendent signifiers; they are the indices of an absolute signification."<ref>{{E}} p.314</ref> |
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| − | Originally used as teaching aids, these range from teh relatively simple 'schema l' illustrating the [[imaginary]] function of the [[ego]] in the 1955 paper on [[psychosis]] to the complex chart of the workings of [[desire]].
| + | They are "created to allow a hundred and one different readings, a multiplicity that is admissible as long as the spoken remains caught in their algebra."<ref>{{E}} p.313</ref> |
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| − | In [[Greek]], ''mathêma'' means "that which is taught."
| + | They are constructed to resist any attempt to reduce them to one univocal signification, and to prevent the reader from an intuitive or imaginary understanding of psychoanalytic concepts: the [[mathemes]] are not to be understood but to be used. |
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| − | # [[Schema L]] (1955), which identifies four points in the [[signifying chain]]: first, the unconscious, or the [[discourse]] of the [[Other]] (A), and then the [[subject]] (S), which in turn results from the relation between the [[ego]] (a) to the [[other]] (a) to the other (d).
| + | In this way, they constitute a formal core of [[psychoanalytic theory]] which may be transmitted integrally. |
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| − | # The [[formula]] of the [[signifier]] (1957), S/s, links the [[law]]s of the [[unconscious]] discovered by [[Freud]] to the [[law]]s of [[language]] ([[metaphor]] and [[metonymy]]).
| + | "One certainly doesn't know what they mean, but they are transmitted."<ref>{{S20}} p.100</ref> |
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| − | Perhaps the most familiar is the '[[algorithm]]' which in 1957 replaces [[Saussure]]'s simple diagram of the [[sign]] / arbor with the notation S/s.
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| − | This is to be understood as demonstrating that the [[signifier]] is above the [[signified]], and that the two are separated by a [[bar]] that resists [[signification]] and forces the [[signifier]] to slide endlessly.
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| − | # The "[[big graph]]" (1957) represented two different stages of the [[signifying chain]].
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| − | [[Lacan]] situated [[jouissance]], [[castration]], the [[signifier]], and the [[voice]] at the various points of intersection on this graph.
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| − | # The [[four discourses]] (1969) were used to link the discourses of the [[master]], the [[university]], the [[hysteric]], and the [[analyst]].
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| − | Four terms—S1, the [[master signifier]]; S2, [[knowledge]]; /S, the [[subject]]; and a, [[surplus enjoyment]]—turn in a circular motion to take up four successive positions defined by the [[discourse]] of the [[master]]: the [[agent]], the [[other]], the production of the discourse, and [[truth]].
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| − | # The [[formulas of sexuation]] (1972) present [[sexual difference]] as a logical inscription.
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| − | Using the signs ?x, Fx, and ?x outside of the field of [[mathematics]] where they originated, [[Lacan]] inscribed a [[masculine]] [[psychical]] [[structure]] on one side and a [[feminine]] [[psychical]] [[structure]] on the other.
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| − | The graphs and schemata gradually become more complex, and are eventually replaced by an '[[algebra]]' of 'little letters' or [[matheme]]s.
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| − | The function of the [[formalization]] that results in the emergence of the [[matheme]] is said by [[Lacan]] to be the integral tranmission of his teachings on [[psychoanalysis]].
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| − | The [[Lacanian]] [[matheme]] is characterized by being both open and asymmetrical.
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| − | It does not tend towards closing discourse, and in spite of its character as a [[statement]], it is primarily an [[enunciation]].
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| − | And there lies the paradoxical aspect of the enterprise—to found a [[science]] of the [[subject]].
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| − | Even though [[Lacan]] finally concluded that there can be no transmission of [[psychoanalysis]], he always situated [[psychoanalysis]] within [[knowledge]]: access to the [[unconscious]] is legible and transmissible.
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| − | [[Matheme]]s advance and illustrate the theses that in relation to [[speech]] and writing, another [[structure]] besides that of grammar or syntax organizes [[speech]], namely the [[structure]] of the [[signifier]].
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| − | The [[Lacan]]ian [[matheme]] proceeds neither by faith nor by pure [[mathematics]].
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| − | [[Lacan]] situates [[religion]] on the side of making [[real]], or "realizing," the [[symbolic]] of the [[imaginary]], or RSI.
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| − | On the other hand, [[Lacan]] defined [[mathematics]] as imagining the [[real]] of the [[symbolic]], or IRS.
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| − | If such were the case with the [[matheme]], then it could become a model of the [[real]].
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| − | In fact, it is no such thing.
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| − | [[Lacan]] never used [[mathematics]] as a demonstration, but as an exercise necessary for a better reading of the [[unconscious]].
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| − | Thus the [[matheme]]s should be read with a shift that allows for them to be situated as a [[symbolizing]] of the [[imaginary]] of the [[real]], or SIR .
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| − | ==See Also==
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| − | * [[Four discourses]]
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| − | * [[Graph of Desire]]
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| − | * [[L and R schemas]]
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| − | * [[Forumalas of Sexuation]]
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| − | * [[Signifier]]/[[signified]]
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| − | ==References==
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| − | <references/>
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| − | * [[Lacan, Jacques]]. [[Écrits]]: A selection. Trans. [[Bruce Fink]]. New York: W. W. Norton. 2002.
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| − | * ——. [[Seminar XXI|Le Séminaire-Livre XXI, Les non-dupes errent]] ("[[Seminar XXI|Those Who Aren't Duped Err/The Names of the Father]]") 1973-1974. Unpublished [[seminar]].
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| | + | [[Category:Dictionary]] |
| | [[Category:Psychoanalysis]] | | [[Category:Psychoanalysis]] |
| | + | [[Category:Jacques Lacan]] |
| | + | [[Category:Concepts]] |
| | [[Category:Terms]] | | [[Category:Terms]] |
| − | [[Category:Concepts]]
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| − | [[Category:Jacques Lacan]]
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"matheme" (mathème)
The term "matheme" is a neologism which Lacan derives from the word "mathematics" presumably by analogy with the term mytheme (a term coined by Claude Lévi-Strauss to denote the basic constituents of mythological systems).
The mathemes are part of Lacanian algebra.
--
Although the term matheme is not introduced by Lacan until the early 1970s, the two formulae which are most often referred to as mathemes date from 1957.
These formulae, which were both created to designate points in the graph of desire, are the matheme for the drive, ($ * D), and the matheme for fantasy, ($ * a).
The structural parallel between the two mathemes is clear; they are both composed of two algebraic symbols conjoined by a rhomboid (the symbol *, which Lacan calls the poinçon) and enclosed by brackets.
The rhomboid symbolizes a relation between the two symbols, which includes the relations of "envelopment-development-conjunction-disjunction."[1]
--
Lacan argues that the mathemes are "not transcendent signifiers; they are the indices of an absolute signification."[2]
They are "created to allow a hundred and one different readings, a multiplicity that is admissible as long as the spoken remains caught in their algebra."[3]
They are constructed to resist any attempt to reduce them to one univocal signification, and to prevent the reader from an intuitive or imaginary understanding of psychoanalytic concepts: the mathemes are not to be understood but to be used.
In this way, they constitute a formal core of psychoanalytic theory which may be transmitted integrally.
"One certainly doesn't know what they mean, but they are transmitted."[4]
