Here’s the fourth episode in our free podcast series on The Logic of Fantasy (Seminar XIV), along with a bit of diagram work from the original session!
Whenever I hear the term sublimation, Ive habituated myself into thinking of it in Hegalian terms. Im not sure if this is conceptually helpful with Lacan, or if its throwing me off base.
How would a clinician (or conversationalist, lol) know the difference between what is a sublimated concept, or something they should just taken at linguistic face value? …..or is this something that some/nost/all people do all the time, and the statements are all post hoc logic based on social acceptability?
In the lecture series before this one, on the drive, sublimation is closely connected to fantasy, desire, and capitalist consumer economies, where ordinary commodities are routinely elevated to the status of cure-all and damn-near divine entities. So it's sublimation everywhere you look! I'd read Marcuse more than Hegel for insight into what can happen next!
I listened to that, but Im still in the phase where Im acclimating myself to the language set so I can even begin to having better than pedestrian conversations about it.
I was considering this more in the terms of socio-linguistics and the careful conversation going on amount peers, and the difference between casual conversation, and the clinical setting. The sublimation of your own thought process into "acceptable" behavior.
The sublimation of the drive into a replacement object, just seems like psychic wheel turning to me. Seems like the key would be to break out of, or at least gain understanding of, the process. Otherwise, youre object hopping to no avail. No?
Again, see the series on the drive. The logic of desire = sublimatory. Here's the "object hopping" you mention. The logic of the drive = desublimatory. Here's the "break out" you mention.
Shit, I meant for this to be a quick question.... just so Im clear. The logic of desire is a sub-conscious process, searching for any object that allows for circuit completion, and of which we become aware of by naming it, and the logic of the drive is a post hoc rationalization, which allows for you to make purposeful decisions about how to handle your drives?
Maybe Im just missing purpose of doing this sort of work. No matter what you do, are you just going to fall back into this process the moment you stop thinking about it?
Hahaha, so these matters often go! But remember: Awareness of the drive is like any other awareness; you can become accustomed to it. At which the drive, not desire, becomes your "fall back" position. Not a bad way to be!
.....and as always I appreciate your time addressing my nieve misunderstandings and pedestrian question.
I do very much enjoy the pod, even minus the visuals that would probably help with my understanding. (This being somewhat purposeful as it gives me a next step if I dont feel Im ever going to get a concept in the way lacan intended. ) I do feel like the difference in understanding Ive gained in however many hours comprised the first few series, versus the same amount of time trying to slog my way alone through the text and using a GPT, is tremendous.
Yeah, just trying to limit my habits and automated responses, or at least understand the "why" behind them. That said, Im pretty sure that eliminating these drives, a likely impossibility, would just be some other psychological issue. Might be better to leave well enough alone, Im not maladapted outside of some lingering socio-linguistic issues, and my inability to stay in the natural attitude...... I would like my drives to have a pragmatic use, but to try to "hack the system" so to speak, might cause some unknown maladaption.
I bought the one deminsional man, but haven't read it yet. Is that the reasonable starting point?
Hey Doc, another quick-ish question..
Whenever I hear the term sublimation, Ive habituated myself into thinking of it in Hegalian terms. Im not sure if this is conceptually helpful with Lacan, or if its throwing me off base.
How would a clinician (or conversationalist, lol) know the difference between what is a sublimated concept, or something they should just taken at linguistic face value? …..or is this something that some/nost/all people do all the time, and the statements are all post hoc logic based on social acceptability?
In the lecture series before this one, on the drive, sublimation is closely connected to fantasy, desire, and capitalist consumer economies, where ordinary commodities are routinely elevated to the status of cure-all and damn-near divine entities. So it's sublimation everywhere you look! I'd read Marcuse more than Hegel for insight into what can happen next!
I listened to that, but Im still in the phase where Im acclimating myself to the language set so I can even begin to having better than pedestrian conversations about it.
I was considering this more in the terms of socio-linguistics and the careful conversation going on amount peers, and the difference between casual conversation, and the clinical setting. The sublimation of your own thought process into "acceptable" behavior.
The sublimation of the drive into a replacement object, just seems like psychic wheel turning to me. Seems like the key would be to break out of, or at least gain understanding of, the process. Otherwise, youre object hopping to no avail. No?
Again, see the series on the drive. The logic of desire = sublimatory. Here's the "object hopping" you mention. The logic of the drive = desublimatory. Here's the "break out" you mention.
Shit, I meant for this to be a quick question.... just so Im clear. The logic of desire is a sub-conscious process, searching for any object that allows for circuit completion, and of which we become aware of by naming it, and the logic of the drive is a post hoc rationalization, which allows for you to make purposeful decisions about how to handle your drives?
Maybe Im just missing purpose of doing this sort of work. No matter what you do, are you just going to fall back into this process the moment you stop thinking about it?
Hahaha, so these matters often go! But remember: Awareness of the drive is like any other awareness; you can become accustomed to it. At which the drive, not desire, becomes your "fall back" position. Not a bad way to be!
.....and as always I appreciate your time addressing my nieve misunderstandings and pedestrian question.
I do very much enjoy the pod, even minus the visuals that would probably help with my understanding. (This being somewhat purposeful as it gives me a next step if I dont feel Im ever going to get a concept in the way lacan intended. ) I do feel like the difference in understanding Ive gained in however many hours comprised the first few series, versus the same amount of time trying to slog my way alone through the text and using a GPT, is tremendous.
Yeah, just trying to limit my habits and automated responses, or at least understand the "why" behind them. That said, Im pretty sure that eliminating these drives, a likely impossibility, would just be some other psychological issue. Might be better to leave well enough alone, Im not maladapted outside of some lingering socio-linguistic issues, and my inability to stay in the natural attitude...... I would like my drives to have a pragmatic use, but to try to "hack the system" so to speak, might cause some unknown maladaption.