PULS
Foto: Matthias Friel
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Jacques Lacan (1901-1981) was a French intellectual who has been labeled as the most controversial psychoanalyst since Sigmund Freud. Calling for a “return to Freud” in mid 20th century Europe, Lacan had re-conceptualized psychoanalysis in ways that had deeply impacted a verity of intellectual fields up until this day. Lacan was also notable for his demanding dialogues with many of the “great philosophers.” In his seminar on Transference-love (1960-1961), Lacan started a dialogue with one philosopher in particular—Plato. Revisiting one of Plato’s most notable dialogues, the Symposium, Lacan went on to develop a unique critical interpretation of the conceptual and logical motivations at the origin of Plato’s philosophy of love. In our seminar we will read Plato’s Symposium alongside Lacan’s seminar on transference and love. We will try to learn something about love by integrating the way in which desire and love are redefined by Lacan in psychoanalysis with the help of Plato’s unique philosophical insights. We will be introduced to several Lacanian psychoanalytical notions such as: lack, the signification of love, the substitution of the lover and the beloved, and the fact that “love is giving what you do not have.” The seminar itself will take the form of a symposium in which a close reading of texts will be held together in class. We will read the texts slowly, trying to delve into selected paragraphs, deciphering Plato and Lacan’s unique style, and extracting very straightforward and non-metaphorical philosophical ideas about love and the psyche.
What does Plato’s Symposium teach us about love? What does Lacan’s reading of Plato’s Symposium teach us about love? How does Plato’s philosophy of love impact psychoanalysis? What can philosophers learn from psychoanalysis? These question will lead us in our reading of Lacan and Plato.
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