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    Contents

    Akwdgmix

    d:

    1

    Part I: Subjectivity

    1. T Fm 25

    2. T Em D52

    3. C d Em79

    4. g Ax99

    5. Cgg Wd121

    Copyrighted Material

    Enjoying What We Don't Have

    The Political Project of Psychoanalysis

    Todd McGowan

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    Part II: Society

    6. T App f143

    7. Ag Kwdg167

    8. T F196

    9. Bd B L223

    10. T N B243

    11. T C Mg gf263

    C:A D D

    283

    N287

    dx339

    Copyrighted Material

    Enjoying What We Don't Have

    The Political Project of Psychoanalysis

    Todd McGowan

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    1

    Introduction

    Psychoanalytic Hostility to Politics

    Te Poliics of a Nonpoliical Teory

    Psychoanalysis begins wih individual subjecs and heir suering. Bywg pk d g p p, p m dhe impairmen ha heir psychic disorder creaes in heir lives. In conras Mxm, w mp m m g, p-analysis has no explici poliical program designed o lessen he misery haFd d dd fd p. T paiens ha would correspond o he revol o he prolearia. When Freudmakes poliical pronouncemens, hey end o be negaive ones, expressing kpm p m. B m ha a viable poliical projec does inhere wihin psychoanalyic heoryand ha his projec provides an avenue or emancipaory poliics aer heend o Marxism in he wenieh cenury. Tere are poins a which his

    p p m pxm Mxm, p genuine alernaive ha has he virue o explaining he laters ailures. Teask o his book will be o lay ou he conours o his poliical projec, oneha has never been ully developed despie numerous atemps a bringingp kg p.

    Unlike mos previous ormulaions o a psychoanalyic poliics, whaw w k p dp Fd xdrive bu he laer Freud o he deah drive (and is developmen in he

    g Jq L d w). w p g p kg d m Fd d m pf

    Copyrighted Material

    Enjoying What We Don't Have

    The Political Project of Psychoanalysis

    Todd McGowan

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    2

    Introduction

    rendering o he deah drive. Tis means ha psychoanalyic luminariessuch as Alred Adler, Carl Jung, Melanie Klein, Donald Winnicot, WilredBion, and even Freuds own daugher Anna Freud will have no role o play

    p p p.T d d d mg k p- p -g. d wk g m. T w, d 1920, Freud becomes so much more pessimisic as a hinker. Bu jus as hedeah drive leads o sel-saboage, i also acs as he source o our enjoymen,d g mp p m,psychoanalysis oers wha Marxisms poliical program could no. Te

    poliics o psychoanalysis aer Marxism is an emancipaory projec basedon he sel-sacrifcing enjoymen locaed in he deah drive. Marxism is z f p, o conceive sacrifce as an end in isel, as a source o enjoymen. Tisp dm m.

    Te eors o marry psychoanalysis and a poliical program since Freudsdiscovery o he unconscious have come rom boh sides o he aisle. Marx- k Td Ad d L A d p d ppm Mxm w md g wd dd mpx , w phinkers such as Erich Fromm and Wilhelm Reich have urned o Marxism w gg mp ddg he suering ha hey discovered in psychoanalyic pracice. oday his m g m m mpg in conemporary poliical hough: Alain Badiou, ienne Balibar, Erneso

    L, C M, Jq R, d k, m w.Bu he relaionship beween psychoanalyic heory and poliics has

    never reed isel o he undamenal divergence ha animaes i. Somehingabou psychoanalyic hough inherenly resiss appropriaion by a programaimed a he common good. Raher han helping wih such a program,i almos ineviably esifes o he reasons or is ailure. Te atemp og p g p m p

    one, and ye his is precisely he aim o his book. Wihou minimizing hep q pg d mm gd,

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    Enjoying What We Don't Have

    The Political Project of Psychoanalysis

    Todd McGowan

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    3

    Introduction

    conours o a poliical heory and pracice derived rom psychoanalyichough. In doing so, i challenges he very hisory o psychoanalysis isel.

    While Freud expresses sympahy wih he Russian Revoluion and con-

    d md k mg , emphasizes he inracable barriers ha any projec o emancipaory poliicswd . A U p, pgrasps he incipien horrors o Salinism a a ime when no one in he Weshad any direc knowledge o hem (and he wors had ye o occur). InCivilization and Its Discontents he noes, One only wonders, wih concern,wha he Sovies will do aer heyve wiped ou heir bourgeois.3 Tis is ap g mp p p-

    p gd . F Fd, mp mp g, xexising human suering. I is no simply Freuds personal judgmen orprejudice ha renders his verdic and insalls an incompaibiliy beweenpsychoanalyic hough and progressive poliical programs; his incompa- w p pp wd.

    O , m pp : mg,or insance, a psychoanalyic undersanding o he naure o desire aidingp mp d m dg, w he recurring di culy o leis poliics. Tere are even hisorical examples wk. L A dp o ideological inerpellaion hrough his acquainance wih Jacques Lacansconcepion o he subjecs enrance ino language, and Julie Michell elabo-raes her criique o he srucural eecs o pariarchy hrough her experi-ence wih Freudian concepions o masculiniy and emininiy. In each

    case, psychoanalysis allows he heoris o undersand how a prevailing p, d pd d mgg w g . A M m, a recommendaionfora pariarchal sociey, bu an analysis ofone. I we areineresed in undersanding and challenging he oppression o women, wecanno aord o neglec i.4 Precisely because she sees psychoanalysis as a p gg, M dm mm g-dg q w p mp w p.

    Underlying a posiion like Michells (which almos all poliical heorisswho urn o psychoanalysis embrace) is he idea ha he poliical useulness

    Copyrighted Material

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    The Political Project of Psychoanalysis

    Todd McGowan

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    4

    Introduction

    o psychoanalysis sems, ironically, rom is lack o a poliical commimen.Ta is o say, psychoanalysis aims o discover he unconscious ruh o hesubjec and he sociey in which he subjec exiss, no o change his ruh.

    I is hus a he mos basic level a descripive raher han a prescripive ar.Even he psychoanalyic cure isel does no porend radical change orhe subjec who accomplishes i. Tis subjec simply recognizes, in JacquesL wd, m . T m g w m . Tg pdoes view his recogniion as he mos radical kind o revoluion, he revolu-ion changes how he subjec relaes o is aciviy, no he aciviy isel. In , p p x gd, w w

    devoe is energies o he projec o inerpreaion and undersanding. Teundersanding i produces can hen orm he basis or he dieren sors o p m ppp .

    T pm w ppp p w descripive process o psychoanalyic inerpreaion. Psychoanalysis does nom d m m(such as pariarchy or capialism); i insead insiss on a undamenal validiyacross culural and socioeconomic boundaries. I also insiss on his validiyacross dieren hisorical epochs. I is, in shor, a universal heory concern-ing he relaionship beween he individual subjec and sociey.6 O course,Freud discovered psychoanalysis in a paricular hisorical siuaion hashaped how he presened his insighs and even he ideas he could ormulae.B p p m (k Odp mpx he labeling o homosexualiy as a perversion) rom he universal ones (likehe anagonisic naure o sociey or he ac o casraion as he requiremen

    ). T g p dg Fd d, ha presens an obsacle or any poliical projec. I he anagonism beween d d d, mg k pm p m .

    Te insighs o psychoanalysis, i valid a all, apply no simply o hepas and he presen bu also o whaever uure sociey we migh envisionor even realize. Tough Freud developed he insighs o psychoanalysis

    p , d m d d d, w

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    Enjoying What We Don't Have

    The Political Project of Psychoanalysis

    Todd McGowan

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    5

    Introduction

    o concepualizing hese srucures iniially reeced he consrains o hishisorical siuaion. Te insighs apply no only o conemporary pariarchal , p J M,

    m p. T w w w m mo neurosis and psychosis ha we have now bu ha we will no surmoun dm gm w d d ddsubjec ha produces hese specifc disorders. As a resul, or psychoanalysis gd m f.

    Youre No Good

    Te grea challenge ha psychoanalysis poses or emancipaory poliics andor poliics as such is is absolue rejecion o he good or he good sociey.In he opening o hePolitics, Arisole describes he good as he basic aim p , d m md g2,500 years.7 Arisole never atemps o prove his consiuive remark in hisreaise bu simply akes i as an unassailable posulae o poliical hinking.For subsequen poliical hinkers, he quesion does no concern Arisolesclaim abou he good bu in wha he good consiss. Tere is unanimiy

    p p gd mg p mg m w k p .

    From he perspecive o psychoanalysis, however, here is no good a. T gd mpgd dd w . T g conic wih he coexisence o compeing individual desires ails o go arenough in envisioning he anagonisic naure o he social order. No mater

    how divergen individual desires are, one could always imagine reconcilinghem wih each oher hrough some sor o compromise. A hinker such asJohn Rawls can imagine a jus sociey despie posiing a sociey divided bym mpg d dd. J wd d g mg g w Rw g w mk d w kg ddineress or desires or social posiion.8 Tis would aciliae a good sociey in

    which any inequaliy would be socially jusifed, and i would hus reconcilempg dd d w .

    Copyrighted Material

    Enjoying What We Don't Have

    The Political Project of Psychoanalysis

    Todd McGowan

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    6

    Introduction

    Bu he barrier o he good sociey runs deeper han his. I derives romhe very idea o he good, which Freud sees as undamenally a odds wih. T gd , , pm. T

    he undamenal poliical insigh ha psychoanalysis brings o he able. I isa once he challenge ha i poses o emancipaory poliics and he basis oris implici projec or emancipaion. As we ge closer o he ideal o a good, w m pp mp d w d. T gd d mg mp m m -g d p pp gm . W dp g xp p. T , p gd d m pxg d

    d .T gd x d w d

    realizing i. As Jacques Lacan poins ou in one o his mos imporan poliicalm, T p k Fd p pp w g Gd g Gd,w das Ding, w m, , -bidden good, and ha here is no oher good. Such is he oundaion o hemoral law as urned on is head by Freud. Te oundaional link beweenhe good and prohibiion renders is pursui compleely conradicory.E p wd gd pdg p w m .T w m, m w dm wpd . T mg m p p d p .

    For psychoanalysis, he good is no jus an unrealizable ideal bu a decep-ion incapable o oriening a coheren and susainable poliics. Tis criique

    hreaens o undermine he very idea o a poliical projec because poliical w d p g g, w m mg d gd ( dm d is no realizable). Conservaive heoriss seem immune o his criique, bu gd hey associae implicily wih he good.0 Poliical heoriss o all sripesw g wd d pg ( - ), w p p wd d

    p wk w m pgg.For his reason, Julia Kriseva heorizes he poliical projec inheren in

    Copyrighted Material

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    The Political Project of Psychoanalysis

    Todd McGowan

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    7

    Introduction

    psychoanalysis as one o permanen revol. Raher han orming a posiiveprogram, psychoanalysis, like modernis lieraure, exiss simply as a nega-ion o ideniy and power. In Te Sense and Non-sense of Revolt, she argues,

    psychoanalysis, on he one hand, and a cerain lieraure, on he oher,pp p . Fm Kp w, p mp p dmd, m . dd m g m xg pw wdwhich i will coninue o provide resisance. Kriseva views psychoanalyichough as a hiccup in he hegemony o scienifc raionaliy and progress.A mp p p p wd

    k p .K dm p p p k g-

    nizance o he implici posiive program in every revol. When one revols, d m g w . Nwis his ruer han wihin he capialis sysem, in which revol orms hed. p g , p .And ye, Kriseva does correcly recognize he seemingly inheren hosiliy p pg g. R d p,psychoanalysis highlighs he momens o is inerrupion and suspension.

    Tis posiion pus psychoanalysis direcly a odds wih Marxisms empha- px. Mx z d g, d p p g wMarxism. Wha disinguishes boh Marx and Freud as hinkers is heirddg gm. W Fd gm m-g x g dd , Mx

    i playing ou in class sruggle. Despie his dierence in ocus, hey share abelie in he undamenal saus o anagonism, which separaes hem rompoliical hinkers (such as John Suar Mill and John Rawls) who view hesocial order as whole, as divided by conics bu no by a undamenalgm. W g md d g, gm mp mp .

    An anagonism doesn jus involve wo opposing posiions like ha ohe bourgeoisie and he prolearia bu conceives o opposiion as inernal

    o each posiion. Tis idea o each posiion being inernally opposed o iselis wha liberal poliical hinkers canno gran (i hey wish o remain liberal

    Copyrighted Material

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    Todd McGowan

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    8

    Introduction

    p k). J w w, w conicing posiion wihin sociey as unifed and idenical wih isel. No w Mx d Fd. F Mx, w g

    and he prolearia is a he same ime he indicaion o an inernal conicwihin he bourgeoisie isel. In ac, he bourgeoisie produces he proleariaou o isel hrough he conradicions o he capialis mode o producion.F Fd, w dd d d w dd d w d.

    Even socieies ha lack he concep o an individual mus nonehe- k w gm. T , m mp reconcile he coninued exisence o he social order wih he enrance

    w d. Tg dd m Wd, gm g m d . T mg Cd L-uncovered in various socieies ates o he problem o his anagonismsuracing universally. Te individual emerges as a disinc being becausehe social order canno reproduce isel wihou producing a remainder,even i his remainder doesn ake he orm o he individual ha is amiliar

    W wd.T d gm w Mx d Fd d q. w m w p ddinvess isel in is own oppression, or how he bourgeoisie or he sociald w . Agm social sasis and he possibiliy or revoluionary change. For Marx andFreud, inerpreaion mus ake anagonism as is poin o deparure, houghMx , , p mg gm

    g p d q m gg.

    Marx envisioned a sociey in which producion would ake place or hegood o he sociey raher han or he sake o he accumulaion o capial,a change ha would allow producion o develop wihou limi. Wihin hep md pd, dg Mx,

    true barrier p pd capital itself. p

    and is sel-valorizaion appear as he saring and fnishing poin as hem d pp pd; pd pd

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    9

    Introduction

    capital, d , .. m pd mpmeans or a seadily expanding patern o lie or he society o he produc-. . . . T m d dpm

    pd m p w d d,he valorizaion o he exising capial. I he capialis mode o produc- m dpg m pwo producion and or creaing a corresponding world marke, i is a hem m d w k d pd pdg .

    Included in his criique o he capialis mode o producion is he idea o a

    sociey in which he means and he end would no longer be in conic wiheach oher. For Marx, he unresriced developmen o he social orces oproducion a sociey wihou anagonism represens a genuine hisori- p. T p Fd gm .

    Unproeced Sex

    B wgBeyond the Pleasure Principle 1920, Fd dd anagonism in his way. Tough never a uopian believing ha sociey mighsomeday overcome he need or repression alogeher, early in he develop-men o psychoanalysis he does argue agains he excesses o conemporarymoral resricions on sexual aciviy. While he preaces his saemen byadmiting ha i is cerainly no a physicians business o come orward wihpp m, m md m migh suppor he urgency o such proposals i I were o ampliy [Chrisian]V E dp zd xm pg mp g m p pd md . Fd md m 1908, whis ocus remained almos wholly on he sexual drives. A his ime he saw w d d g g d m x d d mo by repressions. Tough no one can defniively overcome his conic,

    Fd w m, w wd m pp pgm he reorm o resricions on sexual aciviy. We can lessen he bie ha he

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    10

    Introduction

    g k x d d mp g w .

    W Fd dd d d 1920, pmm m

    heoreically unenable and disappeared rom Freuds wriings. While Freudsdiscovery o he unconscious disruped he hough o ohers, he discovery d d dpd w d w d dp mk g d kkg Beyondthe Pleasure Principle. Tg p x d d p dm ( mp mdfd m), Fdcomes o see he deah drive or he compulsion o repea as he predominan w p d w g.

    more powerul han he sexual drives, jus as beore he saw he sexual drivesas having more power han he drives associaed wih he ego. Despie hisconinued dualism, he discovery o he deah drive radically alers Freudsabiliy o accep he possibiliy o reorm or progressive poliical change o .

    When he sexual drives remained a he basis o Freudian hough, posi- g xd p d w -en wihin he sexual drives hemselves. Psychic illness such as neurosis

    dpd g w x d d aligned wih he ego (which also embodied he resricive moraliy imposedon he subjec by sociey). Even i we could no compleely ree he sexuald m p d w g, w d g d d dg dm. w, w mg Fd p x . T p leis psychoanalyic hinkers such as Oto Gross, Wilhelm Reich, and

    Erich Fromm, each o whom atacks repressive sociey and ocuses onx .For hese heoriss, he early Freud beore he discovery o he deah

    drive is he more poliically viable Freud. Gross, Reich, and Fromm developdp pp, R d Fmm G dd 1920, hough he undoubedly would have adoped heir opposiion as welld d p d d d-ion on Freuds par. Each ries o marry psychoanalysis wih some orm o

    Marxis or socialis hough, and by doing so, hey ake up Marxs belie hasociey can overcome anagonism, ha sexual liberaion is possible wihin

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    11

    Introduction

    d. Rp, p k, necessary cos o social lie bu a ac o wha Reich calls auhoriarian rule.

    Even beore Freud comes up wih he deah drive, he insiss ha he

    x d d m ddwih isel. His sel-proclaimed dualisic concepion o he drives frs hex d d -p d, d d ddrive is acually a dialecical concepion in which a single drive produces g gg. T p d g

    way. From heir perspecive, he sexual drive doesn run aground on isown bu his an opposing orce social resricion. As a resul, he poliicalprojec o psychoanalysis becomes perecly clear: li social resricions

    d w p x d.Wilhelm Reich gives his poliics is mos deailed early ormulaion. As

    mmd Mx d p, g prevoluion wih sexual liberaion. Reich visied he Sovie Union in 1927d d z gm, g wdlaer ates o he Sovie rerea rom sexual liberaion and reurn o heconservaive ideology o he amily. By reeing subjecs rom repressiveresricions on sexualiy, he social order can allow he subjecs naural

    libido o ourish. Te sruggle, as Reich sees i, is enirely sraighorward.A mp x, d resricions creae he neuroic disorders ha psychoanalysis reas. Reichconends ha Freud ails o ake up a criical posiion relaive o socialresricions and hus blames he vicims o sociey or he problems creaed pp .

    E Fmm k p m R, g

    m d w Cmm . Uk R,Fmm d p d d. dd m, d g dpd . T ddrive, which is a drive o desroy onesel and ohers, emerges wih herepression o he lie drive. I lie successully expresses isel, he subjec willno urn agains isel and will insead develop loving relaions wih ohersd w . Dp mdf R, pp p m R d Fmm. -

    analysis akes he side o he naural libido or sexual drive and argues or is. R pg p q gd,

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    12

    Introduction

    x d gd pg d p p pd.

    Tg G, R, d Fmm dp p dm

    psychoanalysis, hey do so as pracicing psychoanalyss. Tis invesmen inpsychoanalyic reamen resrics he exen o which hey are able o con-sruc a poliical heory. Tey are psychoanalyss frs and poliical hinkersd. T Fd d d, w wpoliical sruggle mus conend. Herber Marcuse suers rom neiher m. pp d w mo psychoanalysis o assis in hinking hrough poliical di culies, and

    gz p p p d d.Marcuse announces his own unique marriage o Marx and Freud inEros andCivilization, one o he wo grea atemps o consruc a poliics groundedon psychoanalysis. I is a book ha bears he subileA Philosophical Inquiryinto Freud.

    Marcuse envisions a sociey ha would eliminae scarciy o such anx wd g q p x d,or eros. In his ype o sociey, he need or labor would disappear, and

    pdm pp ( dg )could give way o an unleashing o he pleasure principle (or he direcpah o saisacion). While Marcuse admis ha up o his poin in his- pg d m p, d d mp wdoccasion a dialecical reversal in which progress suddenly liberaed eros gmg p. T w mg

    world in which even deah loses is raumaic dimension because individualsubjecs would be reconciled wih he social whole ha would survive hem.In consrucing his vision o a beter uure, Marcuse does no lose sigh o

    he principle ha opposes eros he deah drive, or wha he calls hanaos.He views hanaos as an aggressive insinc, an insinc oward desrucionha, unlike eros, demands repression in order or sociey o uncion. Buhere is a way o miigae he power o his insinc or desrucion: by elimi-naing he repression o eros, a sociey lessens he aggression ha subjecs

    xp m gg p k eroic saisacion, hough his aggression would no disappear alogeher.

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    13

    Introduction

    M d pp fg w gm Fd mg w dd d social order. He does so, despie borrowing erminology rom he laer

    Freud, by ocusing on he liberaion o he sexual drives in he way ha he Fd d Fd d.Bu such a program is consiuively incapable o admiting he idea o he

    deah drive wih all o is heoreical orce. Marcuse acknowledges he deahd d w w d mg mmz pw, x d d g p pgm . leads Freud o say, oward he end oCivilization and Its Discontents, I have g p m w-m pp, d w

    p m . T d deliminaes he possibiliy o oering consolaion in he orm o a radiionalpoliical program because i erecs a undamenal barrier o progress o x M gz d Mx pmmm.

    Deah a he Botom of Everyhing

    Te deah drive is neiher (conra Marcuse) aggressiveness nor an impulse g ( Fd mp Beyond the Pleasure

    Principle mg mp) mp g mand consiuive loss. Te deah drive emerges wih subjeciviy isel as d d m d pkgg fg p . T f produces an objec ha exiss only insoar as i is los. Tis loss o wha he

    subjec doesn have insiues he deah drive, which produces enjoymeng p .Subjecs engage in acs o sel-sacrifce and sel-saboage because he

    loss enaced reproduces he subjecs los objec and enables he subjec oenjoy his objec. Once i is obained, he objec ceases o be the objec. Asa resul, he subjec mus coninually repea he sacrifcial acs ha producehe objec, despie he damage ha such acs do o he subjecs sel-ineres.From he perspecive o he deah drive, we urn o violence no in order o

    gain power bu in order o produce loss, which is our only source o enjoy-m. W , m . T

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    p f, w, w g, w g .

    T p d w d d mp p

    p xp. T p mp d p pf xp mzd d ddis sable uncioning. Te beter hings are going or he subjec, he morelikely ha he deah drive will derail he subjecs aciviy. According o he mpd d d, mm wd gd progress will end o produce a reacion ha will undermine i. Tisoccurs boh on he level o he individual and on he level o sociey. Inp m, k m g p -

    ion, an eor o susain ones disorder in he ace o he imminence o he. W k dd w mrelaionships ha ail according o a precise patern. Poliically, i meansha progress riggers he very orms o oppression ha i hopes o combaand hereby incessanly undermines isel. Tere is a backlash writen ino pg pgm m .

    T d d m w psyche. I provides he organizing principle or he subjec and oriens hesubjec relaive o is enjoymen, and his enjoymen remains always linked m. T d d mp pmp o ac in heir own sel-ineres or or heir own good. Te deah drive leadssubjecs o ac conrary o heir own ineress, o saboage he projecs hawd d gd.

    Common sense ells us ha sadism is easier o undersand han mas-ochism, ha he sadiss lus or power over he objec makes sense in a

    way ha he masochiss sel-desrucion does no. Bu or psychoanalysis,masochism uncions as he paradigmaic orm o subjeciviy. Consideringhe srucure o he deah drive, masochism becomes easily explained, andsadism becomes a mysery. Masochism provides he subjec he enjoymen , w dm m g m .

    Tis is exacly he claim o Jacques Lacans revoluionary inerpreaiono sadism in his amous aricle Kan wih Sade. Tough mos readers ocuson he essays philosophical coupling o Kanian moraliy wih Sadean

    perversion, he more signifcan sep ha Lacan akes here occurs in hisexplanaion o sadisms appeal. radiionally, mos people viliy sadiss or

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    Introduction

    ransorming heir vicims ino objecs or heir own saisacion, bu Lacanconends ha hey acually urn hemselves ino objecs or he ohersenjoymen. He noes: Te sadis discharges he pain o exisence ino he

    Oher, bu wihou seeing ha he himsel hereby urns ino an eernal. Tg p, m fgure o enjoymen. Wha he sadis enjoys in he sadisic ac is he enjoy-m d , d d mp g his enjoymen. In his sense, sadism is nohing bu an invered orm omasochism, which remains he undamenal srucure o subjeciviy.-d p pm m d d d m .

    Unlike Herber Marcuse, Norman O. Brown, anoher celebraed propo-nen o psychoanalyically inormed poliical hough, atemps o consruc p p p d d. d mp p pw g w. Life against Death Bw deah drive as a sel-annihilaing impulse ha emerges ou o he humanp p d d . A p , T d m . g w m p accep separaion rom he moher, ha separaion which coners individuallie on all living organisms and which in all living organisms a he same imeleads o deah.3 For Brown, we pursue deah and desrucion, paradoxically,because we canno accep deah. I we possessed he abiliy o accep our owndeah, according o Browns view, we would avoid alling ino he deah drived wd d m d d.

    Like Marcuse, Browns socieal ideal involves he unleashing o he sexual

    drives and he minimizing or eliminaion o he deah drive. He even raiseshe sakes, conending ha unless we manage o realize his ideal, he humanp, d w d d, w d k d.Despie making more allowances or he deah drive (and or deah isel) M, Bw d m : ha he deah drive is a orce ha subjecs can overcome. For Freud, in, g mg, p- p d. A g

    d d d pm wd dmd w k d pg g.

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    Progressing Backward

    And ye some idea o progress seems essenial o poliics. Wihou progress p, m wd onesel in poliical conesaion. All poliical aciviy would become uile,which is why ew dispense wih i alogeher. Even a hinker such as JacquesDerrida who sruggles incessanly agains he ideology o progress nonehe-less implicily reains some noion o auhenic progress wihin his hough.Wihou i, he would have no posiion rom which o criicize he idea while dg p .

    Te problem wih progress as an idea, according o someone like Derrida,

    w p g mm dhereby prescribes a cerain uure ha will serve o consrain our poliical. R pg dm, d pgdiminishes i by closing down he opening ha he uure represens. Despiehis deconsrucion o progress, Derrida aligns deconsrucion wih hope ora beter uure wih wha he calls an emancipaory promise. In Specters of

    Marx he elaboraes: Well, wha remains irreducible o any deconsrucion,wha remains as undeconsrucible as he possibiliy isel o deconsrucion

    is, perhaps, a cerain experience o he emancipaory promise; i is perhapseven he ormaliy o a srucural messianism, a messianism wihou religion,even a messianic wihou messianism.4 Tough deconsrucion leaves mp pm w fd d z ,Dd mm wd pg.

    Te poliical dimension o deconsrucion is ounded on he belie ha wd p: dg , g

    jusice o come, and by sruggling agains illusions o presence, we can lessenhuman suering and help o orge a more egaliarian world. Tere is a good,even i ully realizing his good would ransorm i ino is opposie (whichis Derridas conenion). One mus ensure ha he good sociey alwaysm m, arrivant, Dd p , m mmzg gd dgg gd, gg ac elevaes i and ensconces jusice o come as he one idea ha we cannod m g gd. E d,

    some idea o progress as a possibiliy mus exis in order or he heoris omk m pp w.

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    B p d pg g . jus he normaive appeal ha implies his idea; any sysem o hough, even f p dp, p wd

    p pg. T g m g mphe belie ha a beter world is possible and ha he knowledge he sysempd w zg wd. dd p mpm, wd m . T g m pm m dm pmm d p pg d q.Tis is rue or an exreme pessimis like Arhur Schopenhauer as much as wd p k C F. T p m w

    pm m p d d pg, w d m mpdenounces he idea. Tough he good may be impossible o realize, i isalso impossible o abandon enirely. Te producion o knowledge iselp, dp , wd .

    Tis link beween knowledge and progress is he conrolling idea o heEgm. W Egm? K mpzha Enlighenmen requires a siuaion where one is ree o gain knowledge,where one has reedom o makepublic use o ones reason in all maters.7 Inhe ac o gaining knowledge hrough reasoning, subjecs aciliae progress p kwdg g . Kwdg,or Kan and or all Enlighenmen hinkers, has an inherenly progressiveg. m p d m ddg repeiion. Progress is only possible because we have he abiliy o know hep d m . T Egm pg d

    rom is concepion o he human subjec as a subjec o knowledge, a w dm w kw.For psychoanalysis, he link beween knowledge and progress dooms he

    possibiliy o progress. Raher han desiring o know, he subjec desires noo know and organizes is exisence around he avoidance o knowledge. InLe sminaire XXI Lacan saes his sraighorwardly: Tere has been nodesire or knowledge bu . . . a horror o knowing. Te knowledge ha wed kwdg kwdg

    w pw d d d p p.Wha we don know our paricular orm o supidiy allows us o move

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    wd, w w p. W dm kw, mp d .

    Freuds grea revoluion in he hisory o hough sems rom his concep-

    d kw-dg. W k m K d g kw , d Fd dessenial drive, he conends ha he subjec wans no o know in order o d. T w kw on he basis o how i desires. We migh imagine linking hese wo ideas o w d k kwg d dg.

    Bu knowledge and desire are a odds: he subjec doesn wan o know

    wha i desires or how i enjoys. Is knowledge remains necessarily incomplee,and he gap wihin knowledge is he rigger or he subjecs desire and hepoin a which i enjoys. Te unconscious emerges ou o he subjecs inca-paciy or knowing is own enjoymen. Conscious knowledge is no simply kwdg m d m g; kwdg. C kwdgw , d, , kw d .

    Psychoanalysis atemps o fll his undamenal lacuna in he projec oknowledge by demanding ha he subjec abandon he projec in is radi-ional maniesaion. I consrucs a space ha brackes conscious knowledgein order ha he subjec migh discover he unconscious. Te undamenalrule o psychoanalysis one mus reveal no wha one knows bu he wordsha come o mind aims a bringing o ligh wha he subjec doesn wan kw. A gp x w w kw d w .

    pkg, m kw, d x kwdg wknowing i. Te paradox o his knowledge is ha one can access i onlyw notkg d , .

    Adherence o he undamenal rule o psychoanalysis insoar as i is pos- w gz w d kw w phem. Bu i doesn hereby permi subjecs o make progress hroughhe acquisiion o knowledge. Te recogniions ha one makes in psycho-

    analysis do no have he saus o knowledge in he radiional sense o heerm; insead, hey mark an irreducible gap in he feld o knowledge. One

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    gz d m g, d akes responsibiliy or i despie is oreignness. By doing so, one does nochange or progress as a subjec bu becomes wha one already was. One sees

    d d mg pg d d gd.

    Inerminable Repeiion

    I we accep he conradicory conclusion ha some idea o progress inheresin every sysem o hough and ha he psychoanalyic concep o hedeah drive shows he impossibiliy o progress, his leaves psychoanalyic

    hough and especially a psychoanalyic poliical projec on di culground. I migh explain he seemingly absolue pessimism o he laerFd, Fd 1920, w pp dd e caciousness o he psychoanalyic cure. One o his fnal essays, Analysiserminable and Inerminable, writen in 1937 (jus wo years beore hisd), Fd d g k m power o repeiion. Here, Freud conceives o subjecs reusal o abandoncasraion anxiey and penis envy as emblemaic o he inracabiliy orepeiion. He noes: A no oher poin in ones analyic work does one m m pp g pd

    been in vain, and rom a suspicion ha one has been preaching o hewinds, han when one is rying o persuade a woman o abandon her wish p gd g z w kg m p d m d w g d dp m p . T

    is, he repeiion ha ceners around raumaic loss acs as a barrier haw pg d.In ligh o his barrier, he ormulaion o a psychoanalyically inormed

    poliical projec demands ha we dissociae poliics rom progress as iis usually conceived. We canno escape progress, and ye he radiionalp pg w gd. T pdx m m d p p. dmd raher han rying o progress oward overcoming he barrier ha separaes

    us rom he good sociey, we begin o view idenifcaion wih he barrier ashe paradoxical aim o progress. Te barrier o he good sociey he social

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    sympom is a once he obsacle over which we coninually sumble and m.

    T p p gd m d m

    p. T k m p-senaive democracy, a socialis uopia, a sociey wih a air disribuion pw d w, d wd xp wmd m. B gd m dp eors o reach i. Te limi separaing us rom he good sociey is he veryhing ha consiues he good sociey as such. Overcoming he limi sha-ers he idea o he good in he ac o achieving i. In place o his pursui, ap p df w m

    atemping o move beyond or eliminae i. I here is a concepion o prog- p p, pg wd m gd wd gd .

    Idenifcaion wih he limi involves an embrace o he repeiion o hed m p w dreurns. No one can be he perec subjec o he drive because he drive iswha undermines all perecion. Bu i is noneheless possible o change onesxp w . T dm wg p wgha renders he idea o a psychoanalyic poliical projec hinkable is harepeiion undergoes a radical ransormaion when one adops a dierenatiude oward i. We may be condemned o repea, bu we aren condemnedo repea he same posiion relaive o our repeiion. By embracing repei-ion hrough idenifcaion wih he obsacle o progress raher han rying gd mg , d g . d g d k

    o escape, repeiion becomes he essence o ones being and he modeg w .Conceiving poliics in erms o he embrace o repeiion raher han

    gd k mm d d- p p d . T d p khe hopeulness ha Marxism, or insance, can provide or overcominggm d . W , w p d do an alernaive uure alogeher he idea o a uure no longer bese by

    g m d d dd mz m penergy.33 Wha we gain, however, is a poliical orm ha addresses he way

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    m. dg gd d dpg d d gdg pp m-cipaory poliics can pose a genuine alernaive o he dominance o global

    pm d g w xpd dpm. T d d psychoanalysis makes o poliical hough. Bu since i is a concep relaivelyg p g, w xmp m ,, d fm d z w Fd m dd d w p d d mg k k.

    Te chapers ha ollow race he implicaions o he deah drive orhinking abou he subjec as a poliical eniy and or conceiving he poliical

    srucure o sociey. Par 1 ocuses on he individual subjec, beginning wihan explanaion o how he deah drive shapes his subjeciviy. Te variousp p 1 mp d d dd-g w , w d , w drive impacs he subjec as an ehical being, and how he subjec becomespoliicized. Te discussion o he impac o he deah drive on he individual d g mp , wp 2 k dd, gg w mp d don he consiuion o sociey. Par 2 hen examines how he concepion o d d p gg p g d m pproblems: he ine caciy o consciousness raising, he seducive power oanasy, he growing danger o biological reducionism and undamenalism,he lure o religious belie, and he ailure o atemps o li repression. Tewo pars o he book do no atemp o skech a poliical goal o be atained d gz

    already exis and silenly inorm boh. Te wager o wha ollows is ha he d d d d d d g dm.

    Te recogniion o he deah drive as oundaional or subjeciviy isw w p . Tg , d p fdg pmo subjeciviy. Te loss or which one seeks resiuion becomes a consiu-ive loss and becomes visible as he key o ones enjoymen raher han a

    barrier o i. A poliical projec derived rom psychoanalyic hough wouldwork o broaden his cure by bringing i ouside he clinic and enacing

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    . T p , , wd dgpsychoanalysis bu ha psychoanalyic heory would uncion as a poliical. , mp p

    han pracical. Poliically, i doesn mater wheher people undergo psycho- p . T wd g p g insising no on he possibiliy o healing and hereby ataining he ulimaepleasure bu on he indissoluble link beween our enjoymen and loss. Webecome ree o enjoy only when we have recognized he inracable naure .

    Tough psychoanalyic hough insiss on our reedom o enjoy, i under-sands reedom in a counerinuiive way. I is hrough he deah drive ha

    he subjec atains is reedom. Te loss ha ounds his drive rees he m dpd m, d po he iniial loss susains his reedom. By embracing he inescapabiliyo raumaic loss, one embraces ones reedom, and any poliical projecg d w dm m d . Rhan looking o he possibiliy o overcoming loss, our poliical projecsm wk m d w . O w d p pp p dm g d gd.

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