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{{Top}}[[pervert]]|perversion{{Bottom}}

[[Perversion]] was defined by [[Freud]] as any [[form ]] of ''[[perversion|sexual behaviour]]'' which deviates from the [[perversion|norm]] of [[sexuality|heterosexual]] [[sexual relationship|genital intercourse]].<ref>{{F}} ''[[Works of Sigmund Freud|Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality]]''. [[SE]] VII, 125. 1905d.</ref>

[[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>

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.

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]].

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]

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>

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]].

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]].

[[veil]] that the perverse subject erects in front of the [[Thing]] in [[order ]] to avoid an [[encounter ]] with it.

<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]].

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]].

=====IntrumentalizationInstrumentalization=====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>

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>

[[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>

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>

[[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]].

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]]."

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>

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]].