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Affect
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In [[Freud]]'s work, the term '[[affect]]' stands in opposition to the term '[[idea]]'.
The opposition between the affective and the intellectual is one of the oldest themes in [[philosophy]], and made its way into [[Freud]]'s vocabulary via [[German]] [[psychology]].
For [[Lacan]], however, the opposition between the [[affective ]] and the [[intellectual ]] is not valid in the psychoanalytic field.
'This opposition is one of the most contrary to analytic experience and most unenlightening when it comes to understanding it' (Sl, 274).
Thus, in response to those who accuse [[Lacan ]] of being over-[[intellectual ]] and of neglecting the role of [[affect]], it can be pointed out that this [[criticism ]] is based on what [[Lacan ]] saw as a false opposition (Lacan also argued that criticisms of being over-intellectual were often merely excuses for sloppy thinking - see E,171).
On the other one hand, nor is [[psychoanalytic treatment an intellectual affair; ]] experience 'we are is not dealing here with that of an intellectual dimensionaffective smoochy-woochy' (Sl, 27455).
On the other hand, nor is [[psychoanalytic]] [[treatment]] an intellectual affair; 'we are not dealing here with an intellectual dimension' (Sl, 274). The Lacanian [[Lacan]]ian [[psychoanalyst ]] must thus be aware of the ways in which both 'affective smoochy-woochy' and intellectualisation can be resistances [[resistance]]s to [[analysis]], [[imaginary lures ]] [[lure]]s of the [[ego]].
[[Anxiety]] is the only [[affect]] that is not deceptive.
[[Lacan]] is opposed to those [[analyst]]s who have taken the affective [[affect]]ive realm as primary, for the affective [[affect]]ive is not a separate realm opposed to the [[intellectual]].
'The affective is not like a special density which would escape an intellectual accounting. It is not to be found in a mythical beyond of the production of the symbol which would precede the discursive formulation.' (<ref>Sl, 57). </ref>
However, he rejects accusations of neglecting the role of [[affect]], pointing to the fact that a whole year of the [[seminar ]] is dedicated precisely to discussing [[anxiety ]] (Lacan, 1973a: 38).
[[Lacan]] does not propose a general theory of affects, but only touches on them insofar as they impinge on psychoanalytic treatment.
He insists on the relationship of [[affect ]] to the [[symbolic ]] [[order]]; [[affect ]] means that the [[subject ]] is affected by his relation with the [[Other]].
He argues that affects [[affect]]s are not signifiers [[signifier]]s but signals [[signal]]s (S7, 102-3), and emphasises [[Freud]]'s position that [[repression ]] does not bear upon the [[affect ]] (which can only be transformed or [[displacement|displaced]]) but upon the ideational representative (which is, in [[Lacan]]'s terms, the [[signifier]]) (Ec, 714).
[[Lacan]]'s comments on the concept of [[affect ]] have important implications in [[clinical ]] [[practice]].
Firstly, all the concepts in [[psychoanalysis]] which have traditionally been conceived in terms of [[affect]]s, such as the [[transference]], must be rethought in terms of their [[symbolic]] [[structure]], if the [[analyst]] is to direct the [[treatment]] correctly.
Secondly, the [[affect]]s are [[lure]]s which can deceive the [[analyst]], and hence the [[analyst]] must be wary of being tricked by his own [[affect]]s.
This does not mean that the [[analyst ]] must disregard his own feelings for the [[patient]], but simply that he must know how to make adequate use of them (see COUNTERTRANSFERENCE).
Finally, it follows that the aim of [[psychoanalytic ]] [[treatment ]] is not the reliving of [[past ]] experiences, nor the [[abreaction ]] of [[affect]], but the articulation in [[speech ]] of the [[truth ]] about [[desire]].
Another term in [[Lacan]]'s [[discourse]], related to but distinct from '[[affect]]', is the term '[[passion]]'. Lacan speaks of the 'three fundamental passions': love, hate and ignorance (Sl, 271); this is a reference to Buddhist thought (E, 94).
[[Lacan]] speaks of the 'three fundamental passions': [[love]], [[hate]] and [[ignorance]] (Sl, 271); this is a reference to [[Buddhist]] thought (E, 94). These passions [[passion]]s are not [[imaginary ]] phenomena, but located at the junctions between the three orders[[order]]s.
AFFECT
affect 217 [[Seminar XI]]