Wrestling with the angel : experiments in symbolic life

321 Pages·2014·1.09 MB·English

by  Lacan

WRESTLING WITH THE ANGEL
INSURRECTIONS: CRITICAL STUDIES
IN RELIGION, POLITICS, AND CULTURE
INSURRECTIONS: CRITICAL STUDIES
IN RELIGION, POLITICS, AND CULTURE
Slavoj Žižek, Clayton Crockett, Creston Davis, Jeffrey W. Robbins, Editors
The intersection of religion, politics, and culture is one of the most discussed areas in theory
today. It also has the deepest and most wide-ranging impact on the world. Insurrections:
Critical Studies in Religion, Politics, and Culture will bring the tools of philosophy and
critical theory to the political implications of the religious turn. The series will address a
range of religious traditions and political viewpoints in the United States, Europe, and
other parts of the world. Without advocating any specific religious or theological stance,
the series aims nonetheless to be faithful to the radical emancipatory potential of religion.
For a list of titles in this series, see page 301
TRACY McNULTY
WRESTLING WITH
THE ANGEL
Experiments in Symbolic Life
Columbia University Press / New York
Columbia University Press
Publishers Since 1893
New York Chichester, West Sussex
cup.columbia.edu
Copyright © 2014 Columbia University Press
All rights reserved
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
McNulty, Tracy.
Wrestling with the angel: experiments in symbolic life / Tracy McNulty.
pages cm. — (Insurrections: critical studies in religion, politics,
and culture)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-231-16118-3 (cloth: alk. paper)—ISBN 978-0-231-16119-0
(pbk.: alk. paper)—ISBN 978-0-231-53760-5 (e-book)
1. Lacan, Jacques, 1901–1981. 2. Psychoanalysis. I. Title.
BF173.M35846 2014
128—dc23
2013042826
Columbia University Press books are printed on permanent and durable
acid-free paper.
This book is printed on paper with recycled content.
Printed in the United States of America
c 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
p 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Cover design: Noah Arlow
References to websites (URLs) were accurate at the time of writing. Neither
the author nor Columbia University Press is responsible for URLs that may
have expired or changed since the manuscript was prepared.
To Brad and Devin

CONTENTS
Acknowledgments xi
INTRODUCTION: ENABLING CONSTRAINTS 1
In Praise of Symbolic Fictions 7
A Space for the Unfolding of an Experience:
The Mystical Practices of Teresa of Ávila 16
Subjectification as Disidentification:
The Symbolic in the Thought of Jacques Rancière 27
Making Room for the Imperceptible:
Sophie Calle and the “City to Come” 40
PART 1. REINVENTING THE SYMBOLIC
1. INVENTIONS OF THE SYMBOLIC:
LACAN’S READING OF FREUD 51
Beyond the Oedipus Complex 54
The Invention of the Transference 61
The “Subject Supposed to Know,” or the Constraint of the Address 73
The Institution of the Mosaic Law 79
CONTENTS
2. DEMANDING THE IMPOSSIBLE:
DESIRE AND SOCIAL CHANGE 86
Anxiety as a Response to the Desire of the Other 92
The Murder of Moses, the Leader Who Would Not Lead 97
The Constraint of the Transference 106
The Love of the Enemy in the Discourse of Jesus 111
PART 2. POLITICAL THEOLOGY AND
THE QUESTION OF THE WRITTEN
3. WRESTLING WITH THE ANGEL 125
The Road to Damascus: A Political-Theological Fable 130
Jacob’s Struggle with the Angel 133
Voice and the Persecution of the Letter 146
4. THE GAP IN THE LAW
AND THE UNWRITABLE ACT OF DECISION:
CARL SCHMITT’S POLITICAL THEOLOGY 151
The Unwritable Border as Fulfillment of the Law 152
The Gap in the Law and the Function of the Symbolic 163
Political Theology and the Question of the Border 173
5. THE EVENT OF THE LETTER:
TWO APPROACHES TO THE LAW AND ITS REAL 176
Alain Badiou on Law: Saint Paul and Uses of the Word “Jew” 177
Jewish Legalism and the Transmission of Writing 183
The Universal as an “Address to All” 193
The Event of the Mosaic Law 200
viii
CONTENTS
6. THE COMMANDMENT AGAINST THE LAW:
WRITING AND DIVINE JUSTICE IN WALTER BENJAMIN’S
“CRITIQUE OF VIOLENCE” AND IMMANUEL KANT’S CRITIQUE
OF JUDGMENT 205
“Critique of Violence” 208
Language as “Pure Means” 216
Writing and Divine Justice 222
Wrestling with the Angel 224
The Negative Exhibition of the Infinite 228
CODA: TOWARD AN AESTHETICS OF SYMBOLIC LIFE
7. FREEDOM THROUGH CONSTRAINTS:
ON THE QUESTION OF WILL 239
Will, Superego, and the Voice of Conscience:
Arendt’s Eichmann in Jerusalem 240
Will and Constraint in Kant’s Critical Project 247
Constraint Degree Zero: The Literal Practice of the Oulipo 257
The Symbolic and the Social Link 265
Notes 267
Index 293
ix