Difference between revisions of "The Act"

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act (''acte'')
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[[Lacan]] posits a basic distinction between mere '[[behaviour]]', which all [[animal]]s engage in, and '[[act]]s', which are [[symbolic]] and which can only be ascribed to [[human]] [[subjects]].<ref>{{S11}} p.50</ref>
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==Responsibility==
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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]].
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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.
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==Parapraxes==
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Hence someone may well commit an act which he claims was unintentional, but which [[analysis]] reveals to be the expression of an [[unconscious]] [[desire]].
 +
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[[Freud]] called these acts '[[parapraxes]]', or '[[bungled actions]]'.
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They are 'bungled' only from the point of view of the conscious intention, since they are successful in expressing an unconscious desire.<ref>see Freud, 1901b</ref>
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==Responsibility==
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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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He must recognise even apparently accidental [[action]]s as true [[act]]s which express an intention, albeit [[unconscious]], and assume this intention as his own.
 +
 +
Neither [[acting out]] or a [[passage to the act]] are true [[act]]s, since the [[subject]] does not assume [[responsibility]] for his [[desire]] in these [[action]]s.
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== Ethics of Psychoanalysis ==
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The [[ethics]] of [[psychoanalysis]] enjoin the [[analyst]] to assume [[responsibility]] for his or her [[act]]s (i.e. interventions in the [[treatment]]).
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The [[analyst]] must be guided (in these interventions) by an appropriate [[desire]], which [[Lacan]] calls the [[desire of the analyst]].
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An intervention is a '[[psychoanalysis|psychoanalytic]] [[act]]'
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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]].
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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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A bungled action is, as has been stated, successful from the point of view of the unconscious.
 +
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Nevertheless, this success is only partial because the unconscious desire is expressed in a distorted form.
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It follows that, when it is fully and consciously assumed, 'suicide is the only completely successful act'<ref>Lacan, 1973a: 66-7</ref>, since it then 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).
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The death drive is thus closely connected with the ethical domain in Lacan's thought.
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==Examples==
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It is not self-evident what constitutes an 'event' (or an
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'act').
 +
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Examples of what Zižek calls 'acts' vary widely in scope and
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impact.
 +
 +
At the lowest level of agape there is a kind of Pollyanna-ish
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'saying "Yes!" to life in its mysterious synchronic multitude' (Fragile Absolute, 103; also Fright, 172; cf.  Ticklish Subject, 150).
 +
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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'.
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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.<ref>(Fragile Absolute, 149-50)</ref>
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Others literary characters, like Antigone and Sygne,<ref>(Enjoy!, 70ff)</ref>, act in such a way are substitutes for the enigmatic [[objet petit a]]
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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.
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==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.
  
 
== [[Kid A In Alphabet Land]] ==
 
== [[Kid A In Alphabet Land]] ==
Line 5: Line 67:
 
How Can Anyone Bear You? You're Criminal! You Roar And Thunder Aphanisis, But There's A Corpse In Your Mouth! To You, I Say No - I Can Pass Right Through You!
 
How Can Anyone Bear You? You're Criminal! You Roar And Thunder Aphanisis, But There's A Corpse In Your Mouth! To You, I Say No - I Can Pass Right Through You!
 
[[Category:Kid A In Alphabet Land]]
 
[[Category:Kid A In Alphabet Land]]
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==def==
 
−
Lacan draws a distinction between mere 'behaviour', which all animals engage in, and 'acts', which are symbolic and which can only be ascribed to human subjects.<ref>S11, 50</ref> 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 (see [[ethics]]).
 
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However, the psychoanalytic concept of responsibility is very different from the legal concept. This is because the concept of responsibility is linked with the whole question of intentionality, which is complicated in psychoanalysis by the discovery that, in addition to his conscious plans, the subject also has unconscious intentions. 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' (Fr. acte manquÈ); they are 'bungled', however, only from the point of view of the conscious intention, since they are successful in expressing an unconscious desire (see Freud, 1901b). Whereas in law, a subject cannot be found guilty of murder (for example) unless it can be proved that the act was intentional, in psychoanalytic treatment the subject is faced with the ethical duty of assuming responsibility even for the unconscious desires expressed in his actions (see [[beautiful soul]]). 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.
 
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The ethics of psychoanalysis also enjoin the analyst to assume responsibility for his acts, i.e. his 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 can only be called a true psychoanalytic act when it 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>
 
−
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'<ref>Lacan, 1973a: 66-7</ref>, since it then 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<ref>see the example of Empedocles, E, 104, and Lacan's discussion of Antigone in S7, ch. 21</ref>.
 
−
==act (acte)==
 
−
 
−
==def==
 
−
As I said when discussing Badiou's concept of the 'event' (in
 
−
chapter 5), 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). Then there is
 
−
the fait divers of Mary Kay Letourneau's affair with a boy under the
 
−
 
−
. age of consent. Some characters in works of literature or film
 
−
- perform an 'act' when they sacrifice what they hold dearest, com-
 
−
.mitting 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 (Fragile
 
−
Absolute, 149-50). Others literary characters, like Antigone and
 
−
Sygne, or Sophie in Sophie's Choice (Enjoy!, 70ff), act in such a way
 
−
 
−
are substitutes for the enigmatic os]ET 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.
 
−
 
−
==def==
 
−
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 ==
 
== References ==

Revision as of 01:11, 24 June 2006

act (acte)

Lacan posits a basic distinction between mere 'behaviour', which all animals engage in, and 'acts', which are symbolic and which 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]

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]

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], since it then 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.

Kid A In Alphabet Land

Kida a.gif

Kid A In Alphabet Land Assails Another Abject Abstraction - The Acrimonious Act! How Can Anyone Bear You? You're Criminal! You Roar And Thunder Aphanisis, But There's A Corpse In Your Mouth! To You, I Say No - I Can Pass Right Through You!

References

  1. ↑ 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
  2. ↑ see Freud, 1901b
  3. ↑ Lacan, 1967-8
  4. ↑ Lacan, 1973a: 66-7
  5. ↑ (Fragile Absolute, 149-50)
  6. ↑ (Enjoy!, 70ff)
Kid A In Alphabet Land

Act · Blot · Commodity-fetish · Death Drive · Ego-ideal · Father · Gaze · Hysteric · Imaginary · Jouissance · Kapital · Letter · Mirror Stage · Name · Other · Phallus · Qua · Real · Super Signifier · Thing · Unheimlich · Voice · Woman · Xenophobe · Yew · Z-man

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