This book explores how philosophical realisms relate to psychoanalytical
conceptions of the Real, and in turn how the Lacanian framework
challenges basic philosophical notions of object and reality. The author
examines how contemporary psychoanalysis might respond to the question
of ontology by taking advantage of the recent revitalization of realism
in its speculative form. While the philosophical side of the debate
makes a plea for an independent ontological consistency of the Real,
this book proposes a Lacanian reassessment of the definition of the Real
as 'what is foreign to subjectivity itself'. In doing so, it reframes
the question of the Real in terms of what is already there beneath the
supposedly linguistic constitution of subjectivity.
The book then goes on to engage the problem of cognition in the realm of
Nature qua materiality, focusing on the centrality of the body as a
linguistic-material hybrid. It argues that it is possible to
re-establish the theoretical dignity of Ricoeur's notion of 'suspicion',
by building a dialogue between Lacanian psychoanalysis and three main
domains of inquiry: desire, objects and bodily enjoyment. Borrowing from
Piera Aulagnier's theory of the Other as a word-bearer, it considers the
genesis of desire and sense of reality both explainable through a hybrid
framework which comprises psychoanalytical insights and material
dynamics in a comprehensive account. This created theoretical space is
an opportunity for both philosophers and psychoanalysts to rethink key
Lacanian insights in light of the problem of the Real.
