Lectures on Lacan Podcast

The original audience for these lectures on “The Subversion of the Subject and the Dialectic of Desire in the Freudian Unconscious” was a group of 70+ doctoral students in clinical psychology. Some had studied Lacan with me before, others were completely new to his work, and a few were predictably resistant at every step of the way. All of which made the conceptual centerpiece of Part 5 — prohibition, the law, and the paternal function — especially fun to discuss. The clinical structure of perversion figures largely here, with sadism and masochism taking center stage. Followed by logics the American Western, the allure of overeating / workout cycles, and a hint at why the best father is a dead one. Then along comes phallic jouissance and, with it, a wide-ranging critique of “sexual enjoyment at the level of the swimsuit zone,” with help from subaltern theory, animal philosophy, Fanon’s case studies, even Freud himself. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lecturesonlacan.substack.com

Pre-oedipal triangles (starring: φ), properly oedipal squares (starring: -φ), a bit of set theory (don’t shoot the messenger, pls), and the first few graphs en route to that of desire — all begin to take shape in Part 4 of this series on “The Subversion of the Subject and the Dialectic of Desire in the Freudian Unconscious.” But also, with them, something else — something beyond demand, desire, and fantasy alike. Or, as we strike upon it here, “Fuck what you want, tell me what you did.” And with this, two fields of enjoyment come into view: one transgressive and thus beholden to the law (read: desire), and another wending its own way through life as just that (read: the drive). This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lecturesonlacan.substack.com

Need, demand, and desire — now we’re getting to it. Be on the lookout for humans as worms, turds as gifts, the meaning of unpierced ears, and insatiable demands for love, too. Or, at least, that’s what I remember from Part 3 of this lecture series on “The Subversion of the Subject and the Dialectic of Desire in the Freudian Unconscious.” Stay tuned for Part 4 tomorrow — and with more to follow soon thereafter. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lecturesonlacan.substack.com

I was planning to rollout this seven-part audio series on “The Subversion of the Subject” over the next few weeks, but I’m hearing from folks that this just ain’t fast enough. So here’s lecture two — and with more lectures to come soon! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lecturesonlacan.substack.com

If you could recommend only one essay in Écrits, which would it be? I’d probably pick “The Subversion of the Subject and the Dialectic of Desire in the Freudian Unconscious” — the same essay in which Lacan put the finishing touches on the graph of desire:Is “The Subversion of the Subject” a difficult essay? You bet it is. But it's also a remarkably comprehensive introduction to Lacanian psychoanalysis.So when Pacifica Graduate Institute asked me to introduce their clinical psychology doctoral students to Lacanian psychoanalysis, I couldn’t resist. Here’s the opening lecture — the first of seven I delivered last summer. Stay tuned for more in the coming days! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lecturesonlacan.substack.com