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20 Aug 09

Speculative Realism and the Unheimlich « Larval Subjects .

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speculative-realism philosophy uncanny psychotherapy psychoanalysis symbols

The first revolves around the Lacanian category of the symbolic and the function of fantasy. If the Lacanian Real– not to be confused with reality –is so disturbing, then this is because it explodes all the boundaries of the symbolic. Very roughly, the symbolic can be thought of as a sort of web thrown over the world that allows the world to appear organized, totalized, and well sorted into a system of categories. Here there is no better reference for understanding the symbolic than Levi-Strauss and, in particular, The Savage Mind and The Raw and the Cooked. Through the simple semiotic categories of the raw (nature) and the cooked (culture), contends Levi-Strauss, the “primitive” mind is able weave a web of signs and narratives that creates an interface between nature and culture. Through this activity, the alien world of nature becomes heimlich or a “home” with familiar coordinates and relations that we can navigate.
For Lacan a fantasy is not a pleasant imaginary scenerio that we languish privately in the shower. No. Fantasy refers to the frame through which we organize our relation to the world and to others. This in two ways. On the one hand, others are opaque to us. We never know what they’re thinking, what they want, or how they see us. Fantasy provides the answer to that question, creating a sort of schema, not unlike a mathematical function where any random variable we encounter can be placed in the argument position to generate a value according to a rule, that allows us to thematize how others see us, what they want, and what they think of us. If Freud’s encounter with his image as other is uncanny, if it explodes the sustaining framework of his unconscious fantasy organizing interpersonal relations, then this is because, in this fleeting moment, he encounters the otherness of the other or the fact that he cannot master his own image. He sees himself as an other might see him, not as his narcissistic fantasy structure portrays him to himself. His image becomes an object in excess of his self; an object that he cannot master.
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- It is not by mistake that I choose the discourse of the master to illustrate the Lacanian concept of fantasy. The discourse of the master is the discourse of socialization. It is that discourse that takes the bewildering and confusing world (the S2’s depicted in the right hand portion of the graph above) and totalizes them under a master-term or totalizing signifier that organizes that confusion into a consistent reality. What this discourse masks is the divided subject ($) that lacks the mastery he purports to have. In other words, the truth of the discourse of the master is that the master is divided like everyone else, but the discourse actively dissimulates this truth and strives to exclude it. Although the discourse of the master strives to totalize the world into a consistent system, there is always some element that escapes or that fails to fit (a). The fantasy underlying this structure ($ * a) is the unconscious frame organizing the master’s relation to the other wherein it is believed this remainder can be situated in the system.
- Lacan claims that philosophy is the quintessential discourse of the master. If this seminar is called “the other side of psychoanalysis”, then this is because, when the four discourses are placed in the form of a matrice, the discourse of the master is the exact opposite of the discourse of the analyst. Where the discourse of the analyst addresses the other from the standpoint of the remainder or excess (a) and addresses the other as split ($), the discourse of the master strives to suppress the split subject and exclude the remainder. If philosophy is the discourse of the master, then this precisely because it strives to transform the world into the heimlich through either a totalizing system or through a form of thought where humans stand at the center.

09 Aug 09

Contemplating Singularity | Forum

Summarizes and discusses N. Katherine Hayles, Andy Clark (on extended mind) and Terence Deacon and Merlin Donald on evolution of symbolic communication.

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singularity extended mind distributed cognition philosophy humanities symbols communication evolution

25 Jul 09

Lance Mannion: Chosen ones

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title(HarryPotter) title(StarWars) mythology symbols movies criticism

14 Jul 09

James Wolcott on Cultural Snobbery | vanityfair.com

Pity the culture snob, as Kindles, iPods, and flash drives swallow up the visible markers of superior taste and intelligence. With the digitization of books, music, and movies, how will the highbrow distinguish him- or herself from the masses?

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culture symbols snob literature performance books publishing

02 Jul 09

The Symbol Grounding Problem « Apperceptual

philosophy problem from an AI perspective

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artificial-intelligence symbols epistemology philosophy infinite-regress

01 Jul 09

Symbol Grounding and Proportional Analogy « Apperceptual

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philosophy perception symbols mental

25 May 08

Symbols.com - Home

online encyclopedia of western designs and ideograms. Symbols.com contains more than 1,600 articles about 2,500 Western signs, arranged into 54 groups according to their graphic characteristics.

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design graphics encyclopedia directory reference language visual icons symbols import-delicious