Posted by alexandra_k on July 1, 2009, at 11:27:54
> "The symptom arises where the world failed, where the circuit of symbolic communication was broken: it is a kind of 'prolongation of communication by other means': the failed, repressed word articulates itself in a coded, ciphered form. The implication of this is that the symptom can not only be interpreted but is, so to speak, formed with an eye to its interpretation in the psychoanalytic cure the symptom is always addressed to the analyst, it is an appeal to him to deliver its hidden message This is the basic point: in its very constitution, the symptom implies the field of the big Other as consistent, complete, because its very formation is an appeal to the Other which contains its meaning " [Zizek, 1989: 73]
Lacan.
I've been on at him about that for a while. Probably misnamed but perhaps a kind of 'observer paradox' (perhaps perhaps but I don't understand physics well enough). DSM aims to purely DESCRIBE symptoms (and it fails miserably with such causally defined disorders as 'post-traumatic stress' but anyway) the ACT of describing ALTERS the conceptualization that both clients and clinicians have of the behaviors. This ALTERS the behavior of clients (due to the way they conceive of themself and the way their clinicians treat them). Thus a new edition of the DSM is needed to keep up with the way the symptoms / behavior has evolved where it wouldn't have evolved in quite the way it did if it weren't for our activity of trying to describe it.
What do you want me to be?
Yeah okay so perhaps the quote isn't quite saying that. What to do with someone who explicitly takes pride in being unclear? Why, shove him off for the continental philosophers to deal with, thats what. The point of philosophy is to show the fly the way out of the fly bottle. W. Anyone who understands me realizes that this doesn't make sense. W. As you can see analytic philosophy isn't much better. I guess... All I really care about is what HE thought about Lacan. I suppose... I could always ask him. No. Never. lol.
poster:alexandra_k
thread:904205
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20090614/msgs/904205.html