[S][J][P]

[S][J][P]

Latest — Jul 11, 2025

Interpretation in a general sense

Speaking about the interpretation of dreams (the act of interpreting dreams and the book by Freud), Lacan says, What thus guides us when we interpret dreams is certainly not, "What does it mean?" or "What does it want by saying that?" but rather, "What, by

More issues

Castrration, the Post-Liberal Right, and the Liberal Left

I've been trying to suss out (for myself) some of the theoretical orientations that thinkers from the current liberal left and (post-liberal) right are making use of in their thinking. One of the thinkers who appears to offer a theory of the State that many post-liberal right-wing thinkers

The way Lacan talks about "truth"

Speaking about the structure of truth Lacan says, We must not take the term "fictions" here as referring to something illusory or deceptive [...] but as covering precisely what I highlighted aphoristically by emphasizing that truth [...] by its very essence [...] in ad of itself, has a fictional structure. I&

The Real & Ethics

Speaking about the ethics of psychoanalysis, Lacan says, It is because the real is not easy to access, so to speak, that it servers us as the reference point around which the revising of ethics must revolve. I think this is an important statement, because it says that the real

Retroactively

Lacan says, We must go pretty far along a path for the point of departure to be clarified retroactively. (p. 162) I like this line a lot. It makes me think about how we all set out along a path heading in a direction. Or, to say this in a

Fashion Neurosis

I’ve been listening to the podcast Fashion Neurosis. It was made by Bella Freud, the daughter of the painter Lucian Freud and the great-granddaughter of Sigmund Freud. The concept is that she has people come to her office, lay down on her couch, and talk to her about clothing.

Ai can be funny & creative, eh?

From WIRED’s Brian Barrett ‘You Can’t Lick a Badger Twice’: Google Failures Highlight a Fundamental AI Flaw Here’s a nice little distraction from your workday: Head to Google, type in any made-up phrase, add the word “meaning,” and search. Behold! Google’s AI Overviews will not only

Checking in

8:35 am CT I've got a few in-person meetings this morning, which are closer to my kid's school than my house. After dropping the kids off, I grabbed a cold brew at a small local non-chain cafe. They had just baked some cookies that smelled

Jouissance v. Desire

The distinction I've been continuing to do work/research for something where I'm going to need to spend some tie • Desire is structured by lack—it’s metonymic, always pointing toward an object that stands in for another. It’s inherently deferred, tied to the future,