Open AccessLacan’s Fifth and Unfinished Discourse: Capitalism’s Alchemist Dream
Author(s) -
Cindy Zeiher
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
filozofski vestnik
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.103
H-Index - 7
eISSN - 1581-1239
pISSN - 0353-4510
DOI - 10.3986/fv.41.1.13
Subject(s) - dialectic , dream , capitalism , freudian slip , parallels , alchemy , marxist philosophy , philosophy , meaning (existential) , psychoanalysis , literature , epistemology , psychology , art , law , politics , mechanical engineering , theology , neuroscience , political science , engineering
Why is it that we sometimes think of Lacan as Marxist when he is so assertive in being Freudian? Perhaps it is because Lacan perceives Marx rather than Freud as the discoverer of the symptom and furthermore places Marx as central to his fifth Capitalist discourse, in contrast with his previous discourses which are all inspired by Freud. This article considers how Lacan’s final and arguably unfinished Capitalist discourse stands apart from all the others, yet at the same time it reveals contradictions and possible parallels with them as it attempts to unravel the dialectical tensions between the problematic production and consumption of meaning.