The Epoch of the Body: Need and Demand in Koj?ve and Lacan
Resource
中外文學, 37(3), 217-254
Journal
中外文學
Journal Volume
37
Journal Issue
3
Pages
217-254
Date Issued
2008-09
Date
2008-09
Author(s)
Shepherdson, C.
Chang, C.L.
Li, H.C.
Abstract
The work of the Russian ?migr? and philosopher Alexandre Koj?ve was very influential for the French psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan, and has often been used to interpret Lacan's writings. This article argues, however, that the basic conceptual framework of Koj?ve's thought is fundamentally misleading when applied to Lacan and to psychoanalysis generally. Koj?ve's philosophical analysis of intersubjectivity and human desire, grounded in the master-slave dialectic of Hegel, obscures many of the central problems of psychoanalysis: it minimizes the question of sexual difference, neglects the problem of the body, distorts the Lacanian conception of the subject, and leaves entirely aside the problems of the drive, the object-relation, and sexuality. This article reviews Koj?ve's account of the master-slave relation, shows how these conceptual distortions occur, and then explores a more accurate account of Lacan's work, focusing especially on the concepts of “need,” “demand” and “desire.” It also traces Lacan's account back to its roots in Freud, and argues, from a broader genealogical perspective, that psychoanalysis marks a historical break with the organization of knowledge that governs Koj?ve's philosophy, insofar as that philosophy remains organized by an opposition between “nature” and “culture” that psychoanalysis disrupts.
Subjects
柯傑夫
拉康
佛洛伊德
主奴關係
互為主體
對象關係
需要
要求
欲望
身體
Koj?ve
Lacan
Freud
master-slave relation
intersubjectivity
object relation
need
demand
desire
body
Type
journal article