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=====Polymorphous Perversity=====However, this defmition is problematized by [[Freud]]'s own notions of the [[perversion|polymorphous perversity]] of all [[human]] [[sexuality]], which is characterized by the [[absence]] of any [[nature|pregiven natural order]]. =====Jacques Lacan=====[[Lacan]] overcomes this [[impasse]] in [[Freud]]ian [[theory]] by defining [[perversion]] not as a form of ''[[behaviour]]'' but as a [[structure|clinical structure]]. <blockquote>"What is perversion? It is not simply an aberration in relation to [[social]] criteria, an anomaly contrary to [[good]] morals, although this [[register]] is not [[absent]], nor is it an atypicality according to natural criteria, namely that it more or less derogates from the [[reproductive]] finality of the [[sexual]] union. It is something else in its very structure."<ref>{{S1}} p. 221</ref></blockquote> =====Perverse Acts, Perverse Structure=====The [[distinction]] between [[perversion|perverse acts]] and the [[perversion|perverse structure]] implies that, while there are certain [[perversion|sexual acts]] which are closely associated with [[perversion|perverse structures]], it is also possible that such [[perversion|act]]s may be engaged in by [[perversion|non-perverse subjects]], and equally possible that a [[perversion|perverse subject]] may never actually engage in such [[perversion|act]]s. =====Social Dis/Approval=====It also implies a universalist [[position]]; while social disapproval and the infraction of "good morals" may be what determines whether a [[particular]] [[perversion|act]] is [[perversion|perverse]] or not, this is not the [[essence]] of the [[perversion|perverse structure]]. A [[perversion|perverse structure]] remains [[perversion|perverse]] even when the [[perversion|acts]] associated with it are socially approved.Moreover, in Lacan's formulation, it is the [[neurotic subject]] who is in [[conflict]] with the [[Name-of-the-Father]], in other [[words]], with [[Law]] as such. The [[perverse subject]], on the other hand, '[[knows]] very well' the [[letter]] of the [[Law]]--in other words, knows what the [[Other]] desires. The perverse structure follows the [[Law]] to the letter, follows the "''No''" of the [[Father]]--the dictum not to [[enjoy]]. According to Jean Clavreul, " As far as the pervert is concerned, this conflict [between [[desire]] and [[Law]]] is resolved by making desire the law of his [[acts]]."[http://www.lacan.com/conformperf.htm] =====Homosexuality=====Hence [[Lacan]] regards [[perversion|homosexuality]] as a [[perversion]] even when practiced in Ancient [[Greece]], where it was widely tolerated.<ref>{{S8}} p. 43</ref> This is not because [[perversion|homosexuality]] or any other form of [[sexuality]] is [[nature|naturally]] [[perversion|perverse]]; on the contrary, the [[perversion|perverse nature]] of [[perversion|homosexuality]] is entirely a question of its infringement of the [[normative]] requirements of the [[Oedipus complex]].<ref>{{S4}} p. 201</ref> =====Norms Not Nature=====Thus [[Lacan]] criticizes [[Freud]] for [[forgetting]] at [[times]] that the importance of [[perversion|heterosexuality]] in the [[Oedipus complex|Oedipal myth]] is a question of [[perversions|norms]] and not of [[nature]].<ref>{{Ec}} p. 223</ref> The [[analyst]]'s [[ethics|neutrality]] forbids him from taking sides with these [[perversion|norms]]; rather than defending such [[perversion|norms]] or attacking [[them]], the [[analyst]] seeks merely to expose their incidence in the [[subject]]'s [[history]]. =====Perverse Structure=====There are two main ways in which [[Lacan]] characterizes the [[perversion|perverse structure]]. =====Disavowal=====[[Perversion]] is distinguished from the other [[structure|clinical structures]] by the operation of [[disavowal]]. The [[perversion|pervert]] [[disavowal|disavows]] [[castration]]; he perceives that the [[mother]] [[lack]]s the [[phallus]], and at the same [[time]] refuses to accept the [[reality]] of this [[traumatic]] [[perception]]. This is most evident in [[fetishism]] (the "[[perversion|perversion of perversions]]")<ref>{{S4}} p. 194</ref> where the [[fetish]] is a [[symbolic]] [[metaphor|substitute]] for the [[mother]]'s [[lack|missing]] [[phallus]]. One can also formulate the fetish object as a [[veil]] that the perverse subject erects in front of the [[Thing]] in [[order]] to avoid an [[encounter]] with it. =====Phallus=====However, this problematic relation to the [[phallus]] is not exclusive to [[fetishism]] but extends to all the [[perversion]]s.<ref>{{S4}} p. 192-3</ref> <blockquote>"The [[whole]] problem of the perversions consists in conceiving how the [[child]], in his relation to the mother . . . [[identifies]] himself with [[the imaginary]] object of [her] desire [i.e. the phallus]."<ref>{{E}} p. 197-8</ref></blockquote> This is why the [[preoedipal]] [[imaginary]] [[structure|triangle]] plays such an important [[role]] in the [[perversion|perverse structure]]. In the [[perversion]]s, the [[phallus]] can only function as veiled. =====Drive=====[[Perversion]] is also a particular way in which the [[subject]] situates himself in relation to the [[drive]]. In [[perversion]], the [[subject]] locates himself as [[object]] of the [[drive]], as the means of the [[Other]]'s ''[[jouissance]]''.<ref>{{S11}} p. 185</ref> This is to [[inversion|invert]] the [[structure]] of [[fantasy]], which is why the [[formula]] for [[perversion]] appears as ''a <> $'' in the first [[matheme|schema]] in "[[Kant with Sade]]",<ref>{{Ec}} p. 774</ref> the [[inversion]] of the [[matheme]] of [[fantasy]]. =====Instrumentalization=====The [[perversion|pervert]] assumes the position of the [[perversion|object-instrument]] of the "[[perversion|will-to-enjoy]]" (''[[perversion|volonté-de-jouissance]]''), which is not his own will but that of the [[Other|big Other]]. The [[perversion|pervert]] does not pursue his [[activity]] for his own [[pleasure]], but for the [[enjoyment]] of the [[Other|big Other]]. He finds [[enjoyment]] precisely in this [[perversion|instrumentalization]], in [[working]] for the [[enjoyment]] of the [[Other]]. <blockquote>"The subject here makes himself the [[instrument]] of the Other's jouissance."<ref>{{E}} p. 320</ref></blockquote> Thus in [[perversion|scopophilia]] (also spelled [[perversion|scoptophilia]]), which comprises [[perversion|exhibitionism]] and [[perversion|voyeurism]], the [[perversion|pervert]] locates himself as the [[object]] of the [[drive|scopic drive]]. In [[sadism/masochism]], the [[subject]] locates himself as the [[object]] of the [[drive|invocatory drive]].<ref>{{S11}} p. 182-5</ref> The [[perversion|pervert]] is the person in whom the [[structure]] of the [[drive]] is most clearly revealed, and also the person who carries the attempt to go beyond the [[pleasure principle]] to the [[limit]], "he who goes as far as he can along the path of jouissance."<ref>{{E}} p. 323</ref> =====Natural Instinct=====[[Freud]]'s remark that "the [[neuroses]] are the [[negative]] of the perversions" has sometimes been [[interpretation|interpreted]] as [[signification|meaning]] that [[perversion]] is simply the direct expression of a [[natural]] [[instinct]] which is [[repression|repressed]] in [[neurosis]].<ref>{{F}} 1905d: [[SE]] VII, 165</ref> However, [[Lacan]] rejects this [[interpretation]] entirely.<ref>{{S4}} p. 113, 250</ref> Firstly, the [[drive]] is not to be conceived of as a [[natural]] [[instinct]] which could be [[discharged]] in a direct way; it has no zero degree of [[satisfaction]]. Secondly, as is clear from the above remarks, the [[perversion|pervert]]'s relation to the [[drive]] is just as [[complex]] and elaborated as that of the [[neurotic]]. From the point of view of [[development|genetic development]], [[perversion]] is at the same level as [[neurosis]]; both have reached the [[third]] "time" of the [[Oedipus complex]].<ref>{{S4}} p. 251</ref> =====Neurosis=====[[Perversion]] therefore "presents the same dimensional richness as [a neurosis], the same abundance, the same rhythms, the same [[stages]]."<ref>{{S4}} p. 113</ref> It is therefore necessary to [[interpretation|interpret]] [[Freud]]'s remark in [[another]] way: [[perversion]] is [[structure]]d in an [[inversion|inverse]] way to [[neurosis]], but is equally [[structure]]d.<ref>{{S4}} p. 251</ref> While [[neurosis]] is characterized by a question, [[perversion]] is characterised by the [[lack]] of a question; the [[perversion|pervert]] does not [[doubt]] that his [[perversion|acts]] serve the ''[[jouissance]]'' of the [[Other]]. =====Psychoanalytic Treatment=====Thus it is extremely rare for a [[perversion|perverse subject]] to [[demand]] [[treatment|analysis]], and in the rare cases when he does, it is not because he seeks to [[change]] his mode of ''[[jouissance]]''. This perhaps explains why many [[psychoanalysis|psychoanalysts]] have argued that [[psychoanalytic treatment]] is not appropriate for [[perversion|perverse subjects]], a line which even some [[Lacan]]ian [[psychoanalysis|analysts]] have taken, comparing the [[certainty]] of the [[perversion|pervert]] with that of the [[psychosis|psychotic]], and arguing that [[perversion|perverts]] cannot take the position of "one who does not [[know]]" before a "[[subject supposed to know]]." However, most [[Lacan]]ian [[psychoanalysis|analysts]] do not take this view, since it is a view completely at odds with [[Lacan]]'s own position. In the [[seminar]] of 1956-7, for example, [[Lacan]] points to the [[formation|dream]] of the young [[homosexual]] [[woman]] whom [[Freud]] treated as a clear manifestation of [[transference]] in a [[perversion|perverse subject]].<ref>{{S4}} p. 106-7; {{F}} 1920a</ref> Also, in the 1960-1 [[seminar]], [[Lacan]]'s principal example of [[transference]] is that shown by [[Alcibiades]], whom he clearly regards as a [[perversion|pervert]] ("Alcibiades is certainly not a neurotic").<ref>{{E}} p. 323</ref> Thus [[Lacan]] argues that [[perversion|perverse subjects]] can be treated at the same level as [[neurosis|neurotics]], although there will of course be different problems in the direction of the [[treatment]]. One important implication of this is that the [[psychoanalytic treatment]] of a [[perversion|perverse subject]] does not set as its [[objective]] the elimination of his [[perversion|perverse behaviour]]. =====See Also====={{See}}{{Also}} ===== References =====<div style="font-size:11px" class="references-small">
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