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[[time]] (<ref>[[French]]: ''{{Top}}[[temps]]''){{Bottom}}

Broadly [[speaking]], [[Lacan]]'s approach is characterised characterized by two important innovations: the [[concept ]] of [[logical time]], and the stress on [[retroaction]] and [[anticipation]].

=== Logical time Time=== In his paper entitled '"[[Jacques Lacan:Bibliography|Logical timeTime]]' .<ref>" (1945</ref>), [[Lacan]] undermines the pretensions of [[logic]] to [[timelessness]] and [[eternity]] by showing how certain logical calculations include an inescapable reference to a '''[[temporality]]'''.  However, the kind of [[temporality]] involved is not specificiable specificable by reference to the clock, but is itself the product of certain logical articulations.   This [[distinction ]] between [[logical time]] and [[chronological time]] underpins [[Lacan]]'s whole [[theory of temporalitywhole]]. The fact that [[logical timetheory]] is not [[objective]] does not mean that it is simply a question of '''[[subjectivetemporality]] [[feeling]]; on the contrary, as the adjective '[[logical]]' indicates, it is a precise [[dialectical]] [[structure]] which may be formulated rigorously in [[mathematical]] [[terms]]'.  In the 1945 paper, [[Lacan]] argues that [[logical time]] has a [[tripartite]] [[structure]], the three moments of which are:

By means of a sophism, (the problem of the [[three prisoners]], ) [[Lacan]] shows how these three moments are constructed not in terms of objective chronometric units but in terms of an [[intersubjective]] [[logic]] based on a tension between waiting and haste, between hesitation and urgency.   [[Logical time]] is thus "the [[intersubjective]] [[time]] that [[structure]]s [[human]] [[action]]."<ref>{{E}} p.75</ref> [[Lacan]]'s notion of [[logical time]] is not just an exercise in logic; it also has practical consequences for psychoanalytic treatment.  The most famous of these consequences, historically speaking, has been [[Lacan]]'s use of [[sessions of variable duration]] ([[French]]: sÈances scandÈes</ref>, which was regarded by the [[International Psycho-Analytical Association]] ([[IPA]]) as sufficient grounds for excluding him from membership.  However, to focus exclusively on this particular [[practice]] is to miss various other interesting clinical dimensions of the theory of [[logical time]], such as the way in which [[Lacan]]'s concept of "[[the time for understanding]]" can throw light on the [[Freud]]ian concept of [[working-through]].<ref>See Forrester, 1990: ch. 8.</ref> [[Lacan]]'s concept of [[logical time]] anticipates his incursions into [[Saussure]]an [[linguistics]], which is based on the distinction between the [[diachronic]] (or temporal) and the [[synchronic]] (atemporal) aspects of [[language]].  Hence [[Lacan]]'s increasing stress, beginning in the 1950s, on [[synchronic]] or [[timeless]] [[structure]]s rather than on [[developmental]] '[[stages]]'.  Thus when [[Lacan]] uses the term '[[time]]', it is usually to be understood not as a fleeting [[diachronic]] moment but as a [[structure]], a relatively [[stable]] [[synchronic]] [[state]].  Similarly, when he speaks of "the three [[times]] of the [[Oedipus complex]]," the ordering is one of [[logical]] priority rather than of a [[chronological]] sequence.  [[Change]] is not seen as a gradual or smooth move along a continuum, but as an abrupt shift from one discrete [[structure]] to another. [[Lacan]]'s emphasis on [[synchronic]] or [[timeless]] [[structure]]s can be seen as an attempt to explore [[Freud]]'s statement about the non-[[existence]] of [[time]] in the [[unconscious]].  However, [[Lacan]] modifies this with his proposal, in 1964, that the [[unconscious]] be characterised in terms of a [[temporal]] movement of opening and closing.<ref>{{S11}} p.143, 204</ref> ==Retroaction and anticipation==Other forms of [[psychoanalysis]], such as [[ego-psychology]] are based on a linear concept of [[time]] (as can be seen, for example, in their stress on a linear sequence of [[development]]al [[stage]]s through which the [[child]] [[naturally]] passes; see [[development]]). [[Lacan]], however, completely abandons such a linear notion of [[time]], since in the [[psyche]] [[time]] can equally well act in reverse, by [[retroaction]] and [[anticipation]]. === Retroaction===[[French]]: ''[[après coup]]''  [[Lacan]]'s term ''[[après coup]]'' is the term used by [[French]] [[analysts]] to translate [[Freud]]'s [[Nachtr‰glichkeit]] ('[[deferred action]]') These terms refer to the way that, in the [[psyche]], [[present]] [[event]]s affect [[past]] events a posteriori, since the [[past]] [[exist]]s in the [[psyche]] only as a set of [[memories]] which are constantly being re[[work]]ed and [[reinterpreted]] in the light of [[present]] experience.  What concerns [[psychoanalysis]] is not the real [[past]] sequence of events in themselves, but the way that these events [[exist]] now in [[memory]] and the way that the [[patient]] reports them.  Thus when [[Lacan]] argues that the [[aim]] of [[psychoanalytic treatment]] is 'the complete reconstitution of the [[subject]]'s [[history]],"<ref>{{S1}} p.12</ref>, he makes it clear that what he means by the term "[[history]]" is not simply a real sequence of [[past]] events, but "the present synthesis of the past."<ref>{{S1}} p.36</ref>

<blockquote>"===Treatment===[[Lacan]]'s [[notion]] of [[Historylogical time]] is not just an exercise in logic; it also has [[practical]] consequences for [[psychoanalytic treatment]]. The most famous of these consequences, historically speaking, has been [[Lacan]]'s use of [[sessions of variable duration]] ([[French]]: [[séances scandées]]), which was regarded by the past[[International Psycho-Analytical Association]] ([[IPA]]) as sufficient grounds for excluding him from membership. However, to focus exclusively on this [[Historyparticular]] [[practice]] is to miss various [[other]] interesting [[clinical]] dimensions of the theory of [[pastlogical time]] inso far , such as it is the way in which [[historicisedLacan]] in 's concept of "[[time|the time for understanding]]" can throw light on the [[presentFreud]]ian concept of [[working-through]]."<ref>{{S1}} p.12</ref></blockquote>

===Saussurean Linguistics===[[Lacan]]'s concept of [[logical time]] anticipates his incursions into [[Saussure]]an [[linguistics]], which is based on the distinction between the [[diachronic]] (or temporal) and the [[synchronic]] ([[time|atemporal]]) aspects of [[language]]. Hence [[Lacan]]'s increasing stress, beginning in the 1950s, on [[pregenitalsynchronic]] or [[stagetimeless]] [[structure]]s are not rather than on [[developmental]] "[[stages]]". Thus when [[Lacan]] uses the term "[[time]]", it is usually to be seen as real events chronologically prior to the [[genitalunderstood]] not as a fleeting [[stagediachronic]], moment but as forms of a [[demandstructure]] which are , a relatively [[projectstable]]ed [[retroactivelysynchronic]] onto the [[paststate]].<ref>{{E}} p.197</ref>

Similarly, when he speaks of "the three [[times]] of the [[Oedipus complex]]," the ordering is one of [[logical]] priority rather than of a [[chronological]] sequence. [[Change]] is not seen as a gradual or smooth move along a continuum, but as an abrupt shift from one discrete [[structure]] to [[another]]. [[Lacan]] also shows how 's emphasis on [[discoursesynchronic]] or [[timeless]] is [[structure]]d by s can be seen as an attempt to explore [[retroactionFreud]]'s [[statement]] [[about]]; only when the last non-[[wordexistence]] of the [[sentencetime]] is uttered do in the initial [[wordunconscious]]s acquire their . However, [[fullLacan]] modifies this with his proposal, in 1964, that the [[meaningunconscious]] (see be characterized in terms of a [[punctuationtemporal]])movement of opening and closing.<ref>{{ES11}} p.303143, 204</ref>

===Retroaction and Anticipation===Other forms of [[psychoanalysis]], such as [[ego-psychology]] are based on a linear concept of [[time]] (as can be seen, for example, in their stress on a linear sequence of [[development]]al [[stage]]s through which the [[child]] [[naturally]] passes; see [[development]]). [[Lacan]], however, completely abandons such a linear notion of [[time]], since in the [[psyche]] [[time]] can equally well act in reverse, by [[retroaction]] and [[anticipation]].

If ====Retroaction====[[retroactionLacan]] refers 's term ''[[time|après coup]]'' is the term used by [[French]] [[analysts]] to translate [[Freud]]'s ''[[Nachträglichkeit]]'' ("[[time|deferred action]]"). These terms refer to the way that, in the [[psyche]], [[present]] [[event]]s [[affect]] [[past]] events a posteriori, since the [[past]] [[exist]]s in the [[psyche]] only as a set of [[memories]] which are constantly [[being]] re[[work]]ed and [[reinterpreted]] in the light of [[present]] affects [[experience]]. What concerns [[psychoanalysis]] is not the [[real]] [[past]]sequence of events in themselves, but the way that these events [[exist]] now in [anticipation[memory]] refers to and the way that the [[patient]] reports [[them]]. Thus when [[Lacan]] argues that the [[futureaim]] of [[psychoanalytic treatment]] is 'the [[complete]] reconstitution of the [[subject]]'s [[history]] affects ,"<ref>{{S1}} p.12</ref> he makes it clear that what he means by the term "[[history]]" is not simply a real sequence of [[past]] events, but "the present[[synthesis]]of the past."<ref>{{S1}} p. 36</ref>

Like [[retroaction]], <blockquote>"[[anticipationHistory]] marks is not the past. [[structureHistory]] of [[speech]]; is the first [[wordpast]]s of a inso far as it is [[sentencehistoricised]] are ordered in [[anticipation]] of the [[wordpresent]]s to come."<ref>{{ES1}}, 303p. 12</ref></blockquote>

In Hence the [[mirror pregenital]] [[stage]]s are not to be seen as real events chronologically prior to the [[genital]] [[stage]], but as forms of [[demand]] which are [[project]]ed [[retroactively]] onto the [[egopast]].<ref>{{E}} p. 197</ref> [[Lacan]] also shows how [[discourse]] is [[constructstructure]]d by [[retroaction]]ed on ; only when the basis last [[word]] of the [[anticipationsentence]] is uttered do the initial [[word]]s acquire their [[full]] of an imagined [[futuremeaning]] (see [[wholenesspunctuation]] which never, in fact, arrives).<ref>{{E}} p.303</ref>

=====Anticipation=====If [[retroaction]] refers to the way the [[present]] affects the [[past]], [[anticipation]] refers to the way the [[future]] affects the [[present]]. Like [[retroaction]], [[anticipation]] marks the [[structure]] of [[speech]]; the first [[word]]s of a [[sentence]] are ordered in [[anticipation]] of the [[word]]s to come.<ref>{{E}} p. 303</ref> In the [[mirror stage]], the [[ego]] is [[construct]]ed on the basis of the [[anticipation]] of an imagined [[future]] [[wholeness]] which never, in fact, arrives. The [[structure]] of [[anticipation]] is best illustrated [[linguistically]] by the future-perfect tense.<ref>{{E}}p. 306</ref> [[Anticipation]] also plays an important [[role]] in the [[tripartite]] [[structure]] of [[logical time]]; the moment of concluding "is arrived at in haste, 306in [[anticipation]] of [[future]] [[certainty]]."<ref>{{Ec}} p. 209</ref>

==See Also=={{See}}* [[Development]]* [[Dialectic]]* [[Ego]]||* [[International Psycho-Analytical Association]]* [[Intersubjectivity]]* [[AnticipationLanguage]] also plays an important role in the ||* [[tripartiteLinguistics]] * [[structureProgress]] of * [[logical timePunctuation]]; the moment of concluding "is arrived at in haste, in ||* [[anticipationSignification]] of * [[futureStructure]] * [[certaintyTreatment]]."<ref>{{EcAlso}} p.209</ref>

The notion of time in psychoanalysis intersects several other concepts such as repetition, regression, fixation, and rhythm, though Freud also discussed the idea of time directly.  He began by emphasizing the [[atemporality]] of [[unconscious]] [[processes]]:  The [[unconscious]] ignores [[time]], and he suggested that the origin of the representation of [[time]] could be found in the discontinuous relation the [[preconscious]]-[[conscious]] [[system]] maintained with the [[external]] [[world]], the [[time]] dimension then being associated with acts of [[consciousness]].  ==Hesitation==[[Lacan]] offers an interesting analysis of [[hesitation]].  [[Logic]]al time]] is divided into three "[[moment]]s". # [[the instant of seeing]]# [[the time for understanding]]# [[the moment of concluding]]  ==Three Prisoners==[[Lacan]] illustrates this with a story of [[three prisoners]].  The prison governor shows them three green discs and two red ones.  Then he puts a green disc on each prisoner's back.  Each can see the disc on the other two prisoners' backs.  The first one to deduce the colour of the disc on his own back will be granted his freedom. The correct deduction appears to depend on the hesitation of the group.  "If I had a red disk, then each of the other prisoners would not hesitate to deduce immediately that he was green. Since neither has done so, I must also have a green disk." ==Pathology==Delay, doubt, hesitation, procrastination, the ability to make nothing happen .<ref>ungeschehenmachen</ref> - these characteristic features of decision-making are grounded by Lacan in the phenomenology of obsessional neurosis. For a detailed discussion, see John Forrester, The Seductions of Psychoanalysis: Freud, Lacan and Derrida .<ref>Cambridge 1990</ref>, Chapter 8. The prisoner story can be found on p178 ff.  [[Category:Psychoanalysis]][[Category:Terms]][[Category:Concepts]]{{OK}}