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The Psychoanalytic Act, Book XV
The Seminar of Jacques Lacan
Brief Description
The Psychoanalytic Act, Book XV is a Seminar marking a turning point. It deals with a single question, to which Lacan had previously only responded obliquely: what is an analyst? His reply is that an analyst is an analysand (a term Lacan introduces to replace 'being...
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Description
The Psychoanalytic Act, Book XV is a Seminar marking a turning point. It deals with a single question, to which Lacan had previously only responded obliquely: what is an analyst? His reply is that an analyst is an analysand (a term Lacan introduces to replace 'being analysed') who has seen the analytic experience through to its end.
What is this ideal end? To find out, one needs to articulate the logic of the pathway through an analysis. At its beginning, there is an unprecedented desire, presupposing a breach—an act akin to Caesar crossing the Rubicon. This act is the analysand's, but the psychoanalytic act, in the strict sense, is performed by the psychoanalyst by opening up the field of 'subject supposed to know' to the analysand, where the unconscious is deciphered.
At the conclusion, the 'subject supposed to know' dissolves, while the analyst, its support, is discarded like Oedipus ending his life with his eyes gouged out. The analysand, now analysed, takes over as analyst. Yet, why would he choose this role when he now knows what lies in store for him?
A few lessons are devoted to the logic of quantification, which Lacan begins to explore, later developing into his theory of sexuation.
The unforeseen conclusion sees Lacan commenting in the heat of the moment on the events of May '68, coinciding with the end of the Seminar.
Jacques-Alain Miller
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9781509567676
Publisher: Polity Press
Format: Hardback
Date Published: 13 November 2026
Country: United Kingdom
Imprint: Polity Press
Contributors:
- Translated by Adrian Price
Audience: Professional and scholarly
DIMENSIONS
Weight: 0g
Pages: 272
About the Author
Jacques Lacan (1901-1981) was one of the twentieth century's most influential thinkers. His many works include Écrits, The Four Fundamental Concepts of Psycho-analysis and the many volumes of the Seminar.
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