Essays on the Pleasures of Death : From Freud to Lacan

In Essays on the Pleasure of Death , Ellie Ragland discusses the interconnection of Freud and Lacan's theories, while maintaining that crucial differences between them still exist. Ragland argues, however, that Lacan's "return to Freud" gave coherence to concepts which Freud could never explain: psychosis, narcissism, the body and the death drive. Drawing upon Lacan's untranslated seminars through 1981, Ragland analyzes his theories of the death drive and the concept of jouissance , the driving force behind language and libido. Along with her examination of Lacanian theories about the body, meaning systems, and how they shape reality, Ragland also discusses the ethical problems of psychoanalysis and the ways in which Lacan's work points to the inadequacies of terms like "sexuality" and "gender." In the world of psychoanalysis, 'Lacan's return to Freud' is a phrase that has been used to vindicate Jacques Lacan as, finally, a Freudian. In Essays on the Pleasure of Death, Ellie Ragland clarifies the differences between basic concepts in Freud and Lacan and discusses the interconnectedness of both men's theories, while maintaining that crucial differences continue to exist.

She argues that Lacan's 'return' gave coherence to concepts which Freud could never explain: psychosis, narcissism, the body and the death drive. Grounded in clinical experience, and drawing on Lacan's as-yet-untranslated seminars through 1981, Essays on the Pleasure of Death demonstrates to the reader the transformation and translation Freud has undergone, and places him as a psychoanalyst--not a philosopher--in both theory and practice.

Ragland discusses the reworking of the death drive and the concept of jouissance, and examines Lacanian theory regarding the body, meaning systems, and how they shape "the real." Ragland also presents the reader with the ethical implication of psychoanalysis--if an analyst knows the causes of suffering, how to alleviate it and how to help the analysand reconstitute desire, then the analyst is obligated to urge the breaking up of lethal jouissance in favor of desire. Ragland also explains how, for Lacan, words like 'sexuality' and 'gender' are inadequate to the task of mapping what is in play.

Essays on the Pleasure of Death will be essential reading for those involved in psychoanalysis, as well as readers in English, comparative literature, film, philosophy and gender studies.

Contents......Page 4 Introduction......Page 5 Lacan's Theories on Narcissism and the Ego......Page 21 "Foreclosure," or the Origin of the Psychoses......Page 58 Lacan's Concept of the Death Drive......Page 88 Causes of Illness and the Human Body......Page 119 Lacan and the Ethics of Desire......Page 148 The Paternal Metaphor......Page 186 Index......Page 239 Lacan's Theories On Narcissism And The Ego -- Foreclosure, Or The Origin Of The Psychoses -- Lacan's Concept Of The Death Drive -- Causes Of Illness And The Human Body -- Lacan And The Ethics Of Desire -- The Paternal Metaphor. By Ellie Ragland. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Examines the transformation and translation that Freud's theories have undergone, in particular, the differences and interconnections between Freud's and Lacan's work. In Lacan's long exegesis of Freud's texts, he developed a logic of psychoanalysis intended to clarify unfinished or contradictory thoughts in Freud's oeuvre.