The Seminars of Lacan - The Four Fundamental Concepts of Psycho-Analysis

Jacques Lacan (1901 - 1981) was a practicing psychiatrist whose writings invoked a radical reappraisal of the legacy of Freud. From 1951 through 1981 he held a weekly series of seminars. At first geared toward the training of psychoanalysts with "a return to Freud," the series went public in 1953 and rapidly expanded to a whole generation of French intellectuals. These Seminars have been published in 20 volumes, each covering a single academic year.

We will approach Seminar XI "The Four Fundamental Concepts of Psycho-Analysis" held in 1964-65. This was the first Seminar given after he was appointed lecturer (with the help of Levi-Strauss and Althusser) at the École Pratique des Hautes Études. Lacan geared this Seminar toward a larger, less specialized audience and therefore did not assume familiarity with his work. Here he wanted "to introduce a certain coherence into the major concepts on which psycho-analysis is based" - the unconscious, repetition, transference, and the drive.

The Seminar is composed of 20 classes divided into four main sections:

1. The Unconscious and Repetition
2. Of the Gaze as Objet Petit a
3. The Transference and the Drive
4. The Field of the Other and Back to the Transference

We will start our approach with the first two classes - "Excommunication" and "The Freudian Unconscious and Ours." We will work our way though the entire Seminar at a pace that feels appropriate on a loosely bi-weekly basis.

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In his early years, Lacan was influenced by the writings of Jaspers and Heidegger, and attended lectures on Hegel by Kojève (who, besides his academic duties, was heavily influential in the creation of the European Economic Community aka European Union).

His writing style can be notoriously difficult, combining Kojèvean-Hegelian allusions, wide divergences from other theories, and a prose style that often veers off into what for the average reader/listener are obscure references. More often than not, Lacan wants us to come to our own epiphanic understanding, thus consecrating our knowledge of the subject. Whatever your vantage, Lacan is an important writer in understanding contemporary Continental thought.

The text can be found here --> text (https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6O7VnJ8rfJLS1NVVTc1QmxfaFE/view?usp=sharing)

Shameless plug: those interested in this Seminar should also check out the monthly "Freud for Beginners" meetup also held on Tuesdays.

Shameless plug #2: those interested in an application of psychoanalysis in philosophy should check out the rolling Queer and Feminist Tuesdays.