Difference between revisions of "Chance"
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| − | Freud | + | == Sigmund Freud == |
| + | [[Sigmund Freud]] is often accused of crude determinism. | ||
| + | [[Freud]] almost never ascribes accident events to chance. | ||
| + | No slip or blunder, no matter how apparently insignificant, is ever ascribed to [[chance]]. | ||
| − | + | [[Freud]] states: "I believe in external (real) chance, it is true, but not in internal (psychical) accidental events."<ref>Freud, 1901: 257</ref> | |
| − | Lacan expresses the same belief in his own terms | + | ==Jacques Lacan== |
| + | [[Lacan]] expresses the same [[belief]] in his own terms. | ||
| − | + | [[Chance]], in the sense of pure [[contingency]], only [[exists]] in the [[real]]. | |
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| − | |||
| − | Lacan redefines automaton as "the network of signifiers", thus locating it in the symbolic order. | + | In the [[symbolic]] [[order]], there is no such thing as pure chance. |
| − | The term thus comes to designate those phenomena which seem to be chance but which are in truth the insistence of the signifier in determining the subject. | + | |
| − | Automaton is not truly arbitrary: only the real is truly arbitrary, since "the real is beyond the automaton."<ref>Sll | + | In the seminar of 1964, [[Lacan]] uses [[Aristotle]]'s distinction between two kinds of chance to illustrate this distinction between the [[real]] and the [[symbolic]]. |
| + | |||
| + | In the second book of the ''Physics'', where the concept of causality (see [[cause]]) is discussed, [[Aristotle]] explores the role of chance and fortune in [[causality]]. | ||
| + | |||
| + | He distinguishes between two types of [[chance]]: [[automaton]], which refers to chance events in the world at large, and [[tyche]], which designates [[chance]] insofar as it affects agents who are capable of moral [[action]]. | ||
| + | |||
| + | [[Lacan]] redefines [[automaton]] as "the network of signifiers", thus locating it in the symbolic order. | ||
| + | |||
| + | The term thus comes to designate those phenomena which seem to be chance but which are in truth the insistence of the [[signifier]] in determining the [[subject]]. | ||
| + | |||
| + | [[Automaton]] is not truly arbitrary: only the [[real]] is truly arbitrary, since "the real is beyond the automaton."<ref>{{Sll}} p.59</ref> | ||
| + | |||
| + | The [[real]] is aligned with [[tyche]], which [[Lacan]] redefines as "the encounter with the real". | ||
| + | |||
| + | [[Tyche]] thus refers to the incursion of the [[real]] into the [[symbolic]] [[order]]: unlike the [[automaton]], which is the [[structure]] of the [[symbolic]] order which determines the [[subject]], [[tyche]] is purely arbitrary, beyond the determinations of the [[symbolic]] [[order]]. | ||
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It is a knock on the door that interrupts a [[dream]], and on a more painful level it is [[trauma]]. | It is a knock on the door that interrupts a [[dream]], and on a more painful level it is [[trauma]]. | ||
| − | The [[trauma]]tic [[event]] is the encounter with the real, extrinsic to [[signification]]. | + | |
| + | The [[trauma]]tic [[event]] is the encounter with the [[real]], extrinsic to [[signification]]. | ||
==References== | ==References== | ||
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[[Category:Concepts]] | [[Category:Concepts]] | ||
[[Category:Jacques Lacan]] | [[Category:Jacques Lacan]] | ||
| + | [[Category:Dictionary]] | ||
Revision as of 17:25, 21 June 2006
Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud is often accused of crude determinism. Freud almost never ascribes accident events to chance. No slip or blunder, no matter how apparently insignificant, is ever ascribed to chance.
Freud states: "I believe in external (real) chance, it is true, but not in internal (psychical) accidental events."[1]
Jacques Lacan
Lacan expresses the same belief in his own terms.
Chance, in the sense of pure contingency, only exists in the real.
In the symbolic order, there is no such thing as pure chance.
In the seminar of 1964, Lacan uses Aristotle's distinction between two kinds of chance to illustrate this distinction between the real and the symbolic.
In the second book of the Physics, where the concept of causality (see cause) is discussed, Aristotle explores the role of chance and fortune in causality.
He distinguishes between two types of chance: automaton, which refers to chance events in the world at large, and tyche, which designates chance insofar as it affects agents who are capable of moral action.
Lacan redefines automaton as "the network of signifiers", thus locating it in the symbolic order.
The term thus comes to designate those phenomena which seem to be chance but which are in truth the insistence of the signifier in determining the subject.
Automaton is not truly arbitrary: only the real is truly arbitrary, since "the real is beyond the automaton."[2]
The real is aligned with tyche, which Lacan redefines as "the encounter with the real".
Tyche thus refers to the incursion of the real into the symbolic order: unlike the automaton, which is the structure of the symbolic order which determines the subject, tyche is purely arbitrary, beyond the determinations of the symbolic order.
It is a knock on the door that interrupts a dream, and on a more painful level it is trauma.
The traumatic event is the encounter with the real, extrinsic to signification.
References
- ↑ Freud, 1901: 257
- ↑ Template:Sll p.59
