Difference between revisions of "Name-of-the-Father"

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The laws and restrictions that control both your desire and the rules of communication, according to Lacan. The Name-of-the-Father is closely bound up with the superego, the Phallus, the symbolic order, and the Oedipus complex. Note that, according to Lacan, the Name-of-the-Father has a shadow double in the Father-of-Enjoyment. See the Lacan module on the structure of the psyche.
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{{Topp}}Nom-du-Père{{Bottom}}
  
== Prohibitive role ==
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==Jacques Lacan==
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===Symbolic Father===
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When the expression "[[Name-of-the-Father|the name of the father]]" first appeared in [[Lacan]]’s [[work]], in the early 1950s, it is without [[capital]] letters and refers generally to the '''legislative''' and '''prohibitive''' function of the "'''[[symbolic]] [[father]]'''" as the one who lays down the [[taboo]] on [[incest]] in the '''[[Oedipus complex]]'''.
  
When the expression ‘the name of the father’ first appears in Lacan’s work, in the early 1950s, it refers generally to the ‘’’prohibitive role’’’ of the [[father]] as the one who lays down the [[incest]] [[taboo]] in the [[Oedipus Complex]] (i.e. to the ‘’’symbolic father’’’).
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<blockquote>"It is in the '[[Name-of-the-Father|name of the father]]' that we must recognize the support of the '''symbolic function''' which, from the dawn of [[history]], has [[identified]] his person with '''the [[figure]] of the law'''."<ref>{{E}} p. 67</ref></blockquote>
“It is in the ‘’name of the father’’ that we must recognize the support of the symbolic function which, from the dawn of history, has identified his person with the figure of the law.<ref>E 67</ref>
 
  
Lacan plays on the homophony of ‘’le nom du pEre’’ (the name of the father) and ‘’le ‘non’ du pEre’’ (the ‘no’ of the father), to emphasize the legislative and prohibitive function of the symbolic father.
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===Legislative and Prohibitive Function===
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The rexpression is at once a semi-humorous [[religion|religious]] allusion and a play on the near-homonyms '''''non''''' and '''''nom''''': the '''[[name-of-the-father]]''' ('''''le nom du père''''') is also the [[father]]'s "'''no'''" ('''''le "non" du père''''') to the [[child]]'s [[incest]]uous '''[[desire]]''' for its '''[[mother]]'''. (the '''[[law|legislative and prohibitive function]]''' of the '''[[symbolic]] [[father]]''')
  
In his seminar on the psychoses, the expression becomes capitalized and hyphenated.  
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===Fundamental Signifier===
The Name-of-the-Father Is now the fundamental signifier which permtis signification to proceed normally.
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In [[Lacan]]'s 1955-6 [[seminar]], [[The Psychoses]], the expression becomes capitalized and hyphenated and takes on a more precise [[meaning]]; the [[Name-of-the-Father]] is described as the '''[[fundamental signifier]]''' which permits '''[[signification]]''' to proceed normally.
This fundamental signifier both confers identity on the subject (it names him, positions him within the symbolic order) and signifies the Oedipal prohibition, the ‘no’ of the incest aboo. 
 
If this signifier is foreclosed (not included in the symbolic order), the result is [[psychosis]].
 
  
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The [[Name-of-the-Father]] both confers [[identity]] on [[human]] [[subject]]s (by situating [[them]] in a lineage and the [[symbolic]] [[order]]), and [[signification|signifies]] the '''[[Oedipus complex|Oedipal]] [[law|prohibition]]''', the ''''no'''' of the [[incest]] [[taboo]].
  
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===Foreclosure===
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The [[foreclosure]] of this [[fundamental signifier]], or its [[expulsion]] from the [[subject]]'s [[symbolic|symbolic universe]], is said by [[Lacan]] to be the [[mechanism]] that triggers '''[[psychosis]]'''.
  
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===Paternal Metaphor===
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[[Image:NOTF.gif|thumb|404px|right|The paternal metaphor]]
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In [[another]] work on [[psychosis]], [[Lacan]] represents the '''[[Oedipus complex]]''' as a '''[[metaphor]]''' ('''[[paternal metaphor]]'''), in which one [[signifier]] (the [[Name-of-the-Father]]) [[metaphor|substitutes]] another (the [[desire]] of the [[mother]]).
  
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==See Also==
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{{See}}
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* [[Castration]]
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* [[Father]]
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* [[Foreclosure]]
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||
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* [[Law]]
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* [[Metaphor]]
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* [[Oedipus complex]]
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||
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* [[Paternal metaphor]]
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* [[Psychosis]]
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* [[Seminar]]
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||
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* [[Signification]]
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* [[Signifier]]
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* [[Symbolic]]
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{{Also}}
  
 
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==References==
 
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<div style="font-size:11px" class="references-small">
The '''Name of the Father''' refers to the [[Law|laws]] and restrictions that control both [[desire]] and the rules of [[communication]], according to [[Lacan]].
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<references/>
 
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</div>
The Name-of-the-Father is closely bound up with the [[superego]], the [[Phallus]], the [[symbolic]] [[order]], and the [[Oedipus Complex]].
 
 
 
The Name-of-the-Father has a shadow double in the Father-of-Enjoyment.
 
 
 
 
 
The '''Name of the Father''' (Fr. ‘’Nom du père’’) , or the '''names of the father''' is the [[signifier]] associated with the [[signified]] [[concept]] of the [[father]].
 
The name of the Father is a [[symbolic]] formation.
 
 
 
== Linguistics ==
 
French theorist and psychoanalyst [[Jacques Lacan]] revised the [[Oedipus Complex]] in line with his [[structuralism|structuralist]] attempt to combine [[psychoanalysis]] and [[linguistics]].
 
The infant must identify with the father, in order to participate in [[sexual relations]].
 
However Lacan claimed that the position of the [[father]] could never be held by the [[infant]]. 
 
The infant could never ''become'' the father as this would imply sexual relations with the mother.
 
{Through the dictates on the one hand to be the father and on the other not to, the father is elevated to an [[ideal]].}
 
 
 
He is no longer a real father, but a [[role|function]] of a father.
 
 
 
Lacan terms this the [[Name of the Father]].
 
 
 
The same goes for the mother &mdash; Lacan no longer talks of a real mother, but simply of [[desire (Lacanian)|desire]], which is a desire to return to the undifferentiated state of ''being'' together with the mother, before the interference through the Name-of-the-Father.
 
 
 
 
 
This desire necessarily lacks something, i.e. it is a desire of lack.
 
 
 
 
 
The father and accordingly the phallus (not a ''real'' penis, but a representation of [[master]]y) can never be reached, thus he is above or outside the language system and cannot be spoken about.
 
All language relies on this absence of the phallus from the system of [[signification]].
 
According to this theory, without a phallus ''outside'' of language, nothing ''in'' language would make sense or could be differentiated.
 
Thus Lacan remodels the linguistic theory of Swiss linguist [[Ferdinand de Saussure]].
 
It is this idea that forms the basis of much contemporary thought, especially [[poststructuralism]].
 
Nothing can be thought that is ''outside'' of language, but the phallus ''is'' there and therefore structures the whole system of thought accordingly.
 
Oedipus could also be thought of the theme of the story.
 
 
 
 
 
==Freud vs Lacan==
 
In ''[[Totem and Taboo]]'', [[Sigmund Freud]] uses a theory of the history, based on Darwin's [[theory of evolution]], in which there was first a terrible father that the brothers had to kill.
 
Feeling guilty about it, the brothers began to pay homage to the father and founded [[monotheism]].
 
 
 
In Lacan's theory, the learning of [[language]] leads the child to kill his father as a [[symbol]].
 
Lacan does not use any historical theory. 
 
 
 
This concept allows a new understanding of [[neurosis]].
 
 
 
==Psychosis==
 
Nevertheless, [[Jacques Lacan]] developed this concept with the ultimately unsuccessful aim of curing psychosis.
 
 
 
 
 
 
[[category:Freudian psychology]]
 
[[category:Freudian psychology]]
[[Category:Psychoanalytic theory]]
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[[Category:Linguistics]]
[[Category:Lacan]]
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[[Category:Language]]
[[Category:Terms]]
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[[Category:Symbolic]]
[[Category:Concepts]]
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{{OK}}
[[Category:Psychoanalysis]]
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__NOTOC__ __NOEDITSECTION__

Latest revision as of 19:47, 20 May 2019

French: Nom-du-Père

Jacques Lacan

Symbolic Father

When the expression "the name of the father" first appeared in Lacan’s work, in the early 1950s, it is without capital letters and refers generally to the legislative and prohibitive function of the "symbolic father" as the one who lays down the taboo on incest in the Oedipus complex.

"It is in the 'name of the father' that we must recognize the support of the symbolic function which, from the dawn of history, has identified his person with the figure of the law."[1]

Legislative and Prohibitive Function

The rexpression is at once a semi-humorous religious allusion and a play on the near-homonyms non and nom: the name-of-the-father (le nom du père) is also the father's "no" (le "non" du père) to the child's incestuous desire for its mother. (the legislative and prohibitive function of the symbolic father)

Fundamental Signifier

In Lacan's 1955-6 seminar, The Psychoses, the expression becomes capitalized and hyphenated and takes on a more precise meaning; the Name-of-the-Father is described as the fundamental signifier which permits signification to proceed normally.

The Name-of-the-Father both confers identity on human subjects (by situating them in a lineage and the symbolic order), and signifies the Oedipal prohibition, the 'no' of the incest taboo.

Foreclosure

The foreclosure of this fundamental signifier, or its expulsion from the subject's symbolic universe, is said by Lacan to be the mechanism that triggers psychosis.

Paternal Metaphor

The paternal metaphor

In another work on psychosis, Lacan represents the Oedipus complex as a metaphor (paternal metaphor), in which one signifier (the Name-of-the-Father) substitutes another (the desire of the mother).

See Also

References

  1. Lacan, Jacques. Écrits: A Selection. Trans. Alan Sheridan. London: Tavistock Publications, 1977. p. 67