Difference between revisions of "Talk:The Act"
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| + | [[act]] | ||
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==Behavior== | ==Behavior== | ||
| − | [[Lacan]] draws a distinction between mere "[[behavior]]" - which all animals engage in - and an "[[ | + | [[Lacan]] draws a distinction between mere "[[behavior]]" -- which all animals engage in -- and an "[[acts]]" -- which are [[symbolic]] and can only be ascribed to [[human]] [[subjects]].<ref>{{S11}} p.50</ref> |
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==Responsibility== | ==Responsibility== | ||
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==Parapraxes== | ==Parapraxes== | ||
| − | Hence someone may well commit an act which he claims was unintentional, but which [[analysis]] reveals to be the expression of an [[unconscious]] [[desire]]. | + | Hence someone may well commit an [[act]] which he claims was unintentional, but which [[analysis]] reveals to be the expression of an [[unconscious]] [[desire]]. |
| − | [[Freud]] called these | + | [[Freud]] called these [[act]]s "[[parapraxes]]," or "[[bungled actions]]." |
| − | They are | + | They are "bungled" only from the point of view of the [[conscious]] intention, since they are successful in expressing an [[unconscious]] [[desire]].<ref>[[Freud|Freud, Sigmund]]. ''The Psychopathology of Everyday Life''. SE VI. 1901.</ref> |
| + | In [[law]], a [[subject]] cannot be found [[guilty]]of murder (for example) unless it can be proved that the [[act]] was intentional. | ||
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==Responsibility== | ==Responsibility== | ||
In [[psychoanalytic]] [[treatment]] the [[subject]] is faced with the [[ethical]] [[duty]] of assuming responsibility even for the [[unconscious]] [[desire]]s expressed in his [[action]]s. | In [[psychoanalytic]] [[treatment]] the [[subject]] is faced with the [[ethical]] [[duty]] of assuming responsibility even for the [[unconscious]] [[desire]]s expressed in his [[action]]s. | ||
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A '[[psychoanalysis|psychoanalytic]] [[act]]' is an intervenion that succeeds in expressing the [[desire of the analyst]] - that is, when it helps the [[analysand]] to move towards the [[end of analysis]]. | A '[[psychoanalysis|psychoanalytic]] [[act]]' is an intervenion that succeeds in expressing the [[desire of the analyst]] - that is, when it helps the [[analysand]] to move towards the [[end of analysis]]. | ||
| − | Lacan dedicates a year of his seminar to discussing further the nature of the psychoanalytic act.<ref>Lacan, 1967-8</ref> | + | [[Lacan]] dedicates a year of his [[seminar]] to discussing further the nature of the [[psychoanalytic]] [[act]].<ref>Lacan, 1967-8</ref> |
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| + | ==Conclusion== | ||
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| + | A [[bungled action]] is, as has been stated, successful from the point of view of the [[unconscious]]. | ||
| − | + | Nevertheless, this success is only partial because the [[unconscious]] [[desire]] is expressed in a distorted form. | |
| − | + | It follows that, when it is fully and [[conscious]]ly assumed, "suicide is the only completely successful act."<ref>Lacan, 1973a: 66-7</ref> | |
| − | + | The [[act]] expresses completely an intention which is both [[conscious]] and [[unconscious]], the conscious assumption of the unconscious [[death drive]] (on the other hand, a sudden impulsive suicide attempt is not a true act, but probably a [[passage to the act]]). | |
| − | The death drive is thus closely connected with the ethical domain in Lacan's thought. | + | The [[death drive]] is thus closely connected with the ethical domain in [[Lacan]]'s thought. |
==Examples== | ==Examples== | ||
Revision as of 05:13, 30 July 2006
Contents
Behavior
Lacan draws a distinction between mere "behavior" -- which all animals engage in -- and an "acts" -- which are symbolic and can only be ascribed to human subjects.[1]
Responsibility
A fundamental quality of an act is that the actor can be held responsible for it; the concept of the act is thus an ethical concept.
The psychoanalytic concept of responsibility is complicated in psychoanalysis by the discovery that, in addition to his conscious plans, the subject also has unconscious intentions.
Parapraxes
Hence someone may well commit an act which he claims was unintentional, but which analysis reveals to be the expression of an unconscious desire.
Freud called these acts "parapraxes," or "bungled actions."
They are "bungled" only from the point of view of the conscious intention, since they are successful in expressing an unconscious desire.[2]
In law, a subject cannot be found guiltyof murder (for example) unless it can be proved that the act was intentional.
Responsibility
In psychoanalytic treatment the subject is faced with the ethical duty of assuming responsibility even for the unconscious desires expressed in his actions.
He must recognise even apparently accidental actions as true acts which express an intention, albeit unconscious, and assume this intention as his own.
Neither acting out or a passage to the act are true acts, since the subject does not assume responsibility for his desire in these actions.
Ethics of Psychoanalysis
The ethics of psychoanalysis enjoin the analyst to assume responsibility for his or her acts (i.e. interventions in the treatment).
The analyst must be guided (in these interventions) by an appropriate desire, which Lacan calls the desire of the analyst.
An intervention is a 'psychoanalytic act'
A 'psychoanalytic act' is an intervenion that succeeds in expressing the desire of the analyst - that is, when it helps the analysand to move towards the end of analysis.
Lacan dedicates a year of his seminar to discussing further the nature of the psychoanalytic act.[3]
Conclusion
A bungled action is, as has been stated, successful from the point of view of the unconscious.
Nevertheless, this success is only partial because the unconscious desire is expressed in a distorted form.
It follows that, when it is fully and consciously assumed, "suicide is the only completely successful act."[4]
The act expresses completely an intention which is both conscious and unconscious, the conscious assumption of the unconscious death drive (on the other hand, a sudden impulsive suicide attempt is not a true act, but probably a passage to the act).
The death drive is thus closely connected with the ethical domain in Lacan's thought.
Examples
It is not self-evident what constitutes an 'event' (or an 'act').
Examples of what Zižek calls 'acts' vary widely in scope and impact.
At the lowest level of agape there is a kind of Pollyanna-ish 'saying "Yes!" to life in its mysterious synchronic multitude' (Fragile Absolute, 103; also Fright, 172; cf. Ticklish Subject, 150).
Some characters in works of literature or film b- perform an 'act' when they sacrifice what they hold dearest, committing what Zižek calls 'a strike against the self'.
An example is Kevin Spacey's shooting of his own wife and daughter, who are being held hostage by rival gangsters, in The Usual Suspects.[5]
Others literary characters, like Antigone and Sygne,[6], act in such a way are substitutes for the enigmatic objet petit a
Because desire comes to us from the Other, it is a mistake to think of it as subversive; on the contrary, it is banal in the extreme.
More
In The Ticklish Subject: The Absent Centre of Political Ontology, this negative subject-concept is brought to bear on the issue of the "ethical act" - a political act transgressing the rules of the established social order.
References
- ↑ Lacan, Jacques. The Seminar. Book XI. The Four Fundamental Concepts of Psychoanalysis, 1964. Trans. Alan Sheridan. London: Hogarth Press and Institute of Psycho-Analysis, 1977. p.50
- ↑ Freud, Sigmund. The Psychopathology of Everyday Life. SE VI. 1901.
- ↑ Lacan, 1967-8
- ↑ Lacan, 1973a: 66-7
- ↑ (Fragile Absolute, 149-50)
- ↑ (Enjoy!, 70ff)
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