24,656
edits
Changes
no edit summary
phobia (phobie) A phobia is usually defined in psychiatry as an extreme
Thus phobia is not, according to Lacan, a clinical structure on the same level as hysteria and obsessional neurosis, but a gateway which can lead to either of them and which also has certain connections with the perverse structure. The link with perversion can be seen in the similarities between the fetish and the phobic object, both of which are [[Symbolic]] substitutes for a missing element and both of which serve to structure the surrounding world. Furthermore, both phobia and perversion arise from difficulties in the passage from the [[Imaginary]] preoedipal triangle to the [[Symbolic]] Oedipal quaternary.
phobia (phobie) A phobia is usually defined in psychiatry as an extreme
fear of a particular object (such as an animal) or a particular situation (such as
leaving the home). Those who suffer from a phobia experience [[Anxiety]] if they
encounter the phobic object or are placed in the feared situation, and develop
'avoidance strategies' so as to prevent this from happening. These avoidance
strategies may become so elaborate that the subject's life is severely restricted.
Freud's most important contribution to the study of phobias concerned a
young boy whom he dubbed Little Hans. Shortly before his fifth birthday, Hans
developed a violent fear of horses and became unwilling to go outdoors lest he
encounter one in the street. In his case study of Hans, Freud distinguished
between the initial onset of anxiety (which was not attached to any object) and
the ensuing fear which was focused specifically on horses; only the latter
constituted the phobia proper. Freud argued that the anxiety was the transfor-
mation of sexual excitement generated in Hans by his relationship with his
mother, and that the horses represented his father who Hans feared would
punish him (Freud, 1909b).
Lacan, in his seminar of 1956-7, offers a detailed reading of the case of
influence of these lectures on his work, especially his earlier work, is immense,
and whenever Lacan refers to Hegel it is KojËve's reading of Hegel that he has
in mind. From Hegel Lacan takes (among other things) an emphasis on
dialectical modes of thought, the concept of the [[Beautiful Soul]], the dialectic
of the [[Master]] and the slave, and a distinction between animal and human
[[Desire]].
e Heidegger Lacan established a personal friendship with Heidegger,
visiting him and translating some of his works. Heidegger's influence on
Lacan's work can be seen in Lacan's metaphysical discussions of [[Being]], and
in the distinction between full [[Speech]] and empty speech.
These are only the philosophers to whom Lacan refers most frequently; he
also discusses the work of many other philosophers such as St Augustine,
Spinoza, Sartre, and others.
Lacan's work engages with many philosophical schools and areas of
enquiry. In his early work he shows a bent towards phenomenology, even
presenting a 'phenomenological description of the psychoanalytic experience'
in 1936 (Ec, 82-5), but he later becomes quite opposed to phenomenology, and
in 1964 presents a critique of Merleau-Ponty's Phenomenology of Perception
(Sll, 71-6). Insofar as psychoanalysis engages with ontological questions,
Lacan aligns psychoanalysis with [[Materialism]], ag3ÃDSt all forms of idealism.
Lacan also engages with epistemology and the philosophy of [[Science]], where
his constant approach is rationalist rather than empiricist.
Further information on Lacan's relationship with philosophy is provided in
Juranville (1984), Macey (1988: ch. 4), Ragland-Sullivan (1986) and Samuels
(1993).
