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“Real Presence”: Commentary on Session XVIII

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Reading Lacan’s Seminar VIII

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Abstract

“Real Presence,” the eighteenth chapter of Lacan’s Seminar VIII Transference, focuses on the function of the symbolic phallus, or Φ, and on its role in obsessional neurosis. This commentary elucidates what Lacan means by Φ as real presence and how the obsessive defends against it.

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References

  • Freud, Sigmund. 1955. Notes Upon a Case of Obsessional Neurosis (1909). In The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud, vol. X, translated by J. Strachey, 24 vols. London: Hogarth Press.

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  • Lacan, J. 1955. The Function and Field of Speech and Language in Psychoanalysis. In Écrits: The First Complete Edition in English (2006), translated by Bruce Fink. New York and London: W. W. Norton.

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  • ———. 1960–1961. Transference: The Seminar of Jacques Lacan, Book VIII. Translated by Fink. Malden, MA: Polity Press.

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Swales, S. (2020). “Real Presence”: Commentary on Session XVIII. In: Basu Thakur, G., Dickstein, J. (eds) Reading Lacan’s Seminar VIII. The Palgrave Lacan Series. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-32742-2_17

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