Speculations After Freud: Psychoanalysis, Philosophy and Culture

246 Pages·1994·0.87 MB·English

by  Michael Munchow

Speculations after Freud

Psychoanalysis has emerged from the intimate, personal experience of
therapy into the wider public domain: it has become a cultural term of
reference which underpins many disciplines. It has sought to become the
dominant language of psychological and social discourse, while trying to
remain a separate and institutionally controlled discipline. Owing to this
double bind, its own identity is now increasingly in crisis: does it still have
a role to play in cultural debate, or must new forms of thinking be
developed in its place?
This volume, a collection of essays on the intersections between
psychoanalysis, philosophy and cultural studies, asks questions about the
future of psychoanalysis. Addressing the dilemmas afflicting contemporary
psychoanalysis, Speculations after Freud pits together advocates and critics
of psychoanalysis in order to challenge its assumptions and its powerful
hold on contemporary culture.
Sonu Shamdasani is a researcher on the history and philosophy of
psychology. He is Consultant to the Psychoanalytic Forum at the Institute
of Contemporary Arts, London, and the editor of Jung’s Seminar on
Kundalini Yoga (forthcoming). Michael Münchow is a freelance writer
and translator on psychoanalysis and philosophy based in Copenhagen,
Denmark.

Speculations after Freud

Psychoanalysis, philosophy and culture
Edited by Sonu Shamdasani
and Michael Münchow

London and New York
First published 1994
by Routledge
11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2002.
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001
© 1994 selection and editorial matter:
Sonu Shamdasani and Michael Münchow; individual chapters: the contributors
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic,
mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented,
including photocopying and recording, or in any information
storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from
the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Speculations after Freud: psychoanalysis, philosophy, and culture/edited by
Sonu Shamdasani and Michael Münchow.
p. cm.
Based on papers presented at the conference Speculations: appraising
psychoanalysis, philosophy and cultural studies, held Oct. 26–28, 1990.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Psychoanalysis—Philosophy—Congresses. 2. Psychoanalysis and
philosophy—Congresses. 3. Psychoanalysis and culture—Congresses.
4. Freud, Sigmund, 1856–1939—Congresses. I. Shamdasani, Sonu, 1962– .
II. Münchow, Michael, 1961–.
BF175.S615 1994
150.19’5–dc20
93–26967
CIP
ISBN 0-415-07655-2 (hbk)
ISBN 0-415-07656-0 (pbk)
ISBN 0-203-04912-8 Master e-book ISBN
ISBN 0-203-21346-7 (Glassbook Format)
Contents

Notes on contributors vii
Preface ix
Introduction: the censure of the speculative xi
Sonu Shamdasani
1 Psychoanalysis and politics 1
Cornelius Castoriadis
2 Psychoanalysts in times of distress 13
Julia Kristeva
3 “Man is by nature a political animal” or: patient as citizen 27
James Hillman
4 Psychoanalysis in left field and fieldworking: examples
to fit the title 41
Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak
5 The alibis of the subject: Lacan and philosophy 77
Mikkel Borch-Jacobsen
6 “It’s only the first step that costs” 97
Sarah Kofman
7 Lust 133
Alphonso Lingis
8 Immanent death, imminent death 151
David Farrell Krell
9 The word of silence 167
William Richardson
10 The Sandman looks at “The uncanny” 185
Nicholas Rand and Maria Torok
vi Contents
11 The pleasure of therapy 205
Charles E.Scott
Index 225
Contributors

Mikkel Borch-Jacobsen is Professor of Romance Languages at the
University of Washington, Seattle.
Cornelius Castoriadis is a practising psychoanalyst and Director of
Studies at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes, Paris.
James Hillman is the seminal figure behind archetypal psychology and is
based in Thompson, Connecticut.
Sarah Kofman is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Paris I,
Panthéon-Sorbonne.
David Farrell Krell is Professor of Philosophy at DePaul University,
Chicago.
Julia Kristeva is Professor of Linguistics at the University of Paris.
Alphonso Lingis is Professor of Philosophy at Pennsylvania State
University.
Nicholas Rand is Professor of French Literature at the University of
Wisconsin, Madison.
William Richardson is Professor of Philosophy at Boston College.
Charles E.Scott is Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of Philosophy at
Pennsylvania State University.
Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak is Professor of Comparative Literature at the
University of Columbia.
Maria Torok is a practising psychoanalyst and theoretician based in Paris.

Preface

Through the preparation of an international conference, the “event” soon
detaches itself from the “originators”. It momentarily links together a
multitude of people, who through participating helped create it and to
whom thanks are hence due. We would like to make singular mention of
Richard Wells, the former director of the Freud Museum—whose vision for
a public programme made available the support and a considerable
amount of the limited resources of the Museum. Without these resources
the project would never have been realized. The Museum’s staff
contributed to the organization of the conference—Susan O’Cleary
especially, but also Andie Awde, Alex Bento, Paul Cobley, Erica Davies,
Keith Davies, Allison Green, Michael Molnar and Ivan Ward. Particular
thanks are due to Steve Gans, the consultant to the project, whose lateral
thinking played a crucial role in its germination and formulation; Steve
Hornibrook, whose early death robbed these debates of what would have
been one of their most distinctive voices; Michel Monory and Michel
Oriano, successive directors of the Institut Français, who generously made
available their facilities together with sponsorship and the assistance of
Paola Jojima, Jean-Marc Lanteri and Frédéric Beaufort. Invaluable
assistance was also provided by Geoff Bennington, Brion Haworth,
Nicholas Harrison, Richard Kearney, Paul Sirett, Tom Waldron, Steve
Whitenstall and Sarah Wykes.
The editors and publishers would like to thank Stanford University Press
for permission to include Mikkel Borch-Jacobsen’s “The alibis of the
subject” which appeared in Mikkel Borch-Jacobsen, The Emotional Tie:
Psychoanalysis, Mimesis, and Affect (1993) and Galilée for permission to
publish the English translation of Sarah Kofman’s “Il n’y a que le premier
pas qui coûte” (1992). Julia Kristeva’s “Psychoanalysts in times of distress”
first appeared as “Psychanalystes en temps de detresse” in Lettre
Internationale, no. 21 (Summer 1989).
Each text is preceded by a pre-text and selected bibliography, which
introduces the author and sketches the context of their contribution.
M.M. and S.S.