The Impossibility of a Cure for Loss

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Lacanian analysis is an incredibly active way to deal with that lack, and i think a lot of people do deal with it that way. Not everyone is an intellectual or an artist, you know, painting paintings and writing books and stufs like that. A people have various ways of finding meaning in their lives that are sort of more every day than what we intellectuals do. But the point is that he was trying to give his patience, and also his audience members, the ability to think about how to make their lives meaningful without resorting to the idea of god.

Neuroscience has given us great insights into how our brains work. But there is still room for purely humanistic disciplines to help us think through our thoughts and emotions, not to mention the meaning of our lives. Mari Ruti is a professor of English literature, with expertise in critical theory, gender studies, and psychoanalysis, especially the work of French theorist Jacques Lacan. We talk about the psychological drive that is motivated by what Lacan calls “lack,” which is related to “desire.” We use this as a way to think about such essential human experiences as mourning, creativity, and love. (We don’t talk about love enough here on the podcast.)

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Mari Ruti received her Ph.D. in comparative literature from Harvard University. She is currently a Distinguished Professor of critical theory and gender and sexuality studies at the University of Toronto. She is the co-editor of the Psychoanalytic Horizons book series for Bloomsbury.

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