Ethics of The Real: Kant, Lacan (Wo Es War) [Paperback]

Alenka Zupani (Author), Alenka Zupancic (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 16, 2000 | ISBN-10: 1859842186 | ISBN-13: 978-1859842188

The idea of Kantian ethics is both simple and revolutionary: it proposes a moral law independent of any notion of a pre-establishment of fear. In attempting to interpret sucha a revcolutionary proposition in a more 'humane' light, and to turn Kant into our contemporary - someone who can help us with our own ethical dilemmas - many Kantian scholars have glossed over its apparent paradoxes and impossible claims. This book is concerned with doing exactly the opposite. Kant, thank God, is not our contemporary; he stands against the grain of our times. Lacan on the face of it appears to be the very antithesis of Kant - the wild theorist of psychoanalysis compared to the sober Enlightenment figure. His concept of the Real, however, provides perhaps the most useful backdrop to this new interpretation of Kantian ethics. Constantly juxtaposing her readings of the two philosophers, Alenka Zupancic summons up and 'ethics of the Real', and clears the ground for a radical restoration of the disruptive element in ethics.

Editorial Reviews

Review

If Zupancic's book does not become a classic work of reference, the only conclusion will be that our academia is caught in an obscure desire to self-destruct. -- Slavoj Zizek

About the Author

Alenka Zupancic is a Researcher at the Institute of Philosophy at the Slovene Academy of Sciences, Ljubljana.

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Verso (March 16, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1859842186
• ISBN-13: 978-1859842188
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 5.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.3 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #573,043 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Insight plus clarity, October 12, 2000

By 

"benvolio" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ethics of The Real: Kant, Lacan (Wo Es War) (Paperback)

There are lots of clever books about Lacan, but often they are too clever for their own good (or the reader's good), simply compounding Lacan's own obscurity. This is not an easy book but you can't fault it for any lack of clarity. Unlike many Lacanians, she actually gives examples for her abstract claims, since she is not afraid to test the abstract on the concrete. Her analysis of 'Dangerous Liaisons' is brilliantly incisive. What Zizek says about her unquestionable value in the book's blurb and the preface turns out to be a fact. Great book! Don't miss it.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lacan d'jour, September 30, 2004

By 

Lost Lacanian (Lost-in, CA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Ethics of The Real: Kant, Lacan (Wo Es War) (Paperback)

This book is necessary reading for anyone interested in learing about Lacan as well as for anyone already versed in Lacanian theory. Zupancic is a former pupil of Slavoj Zizek, and though some of her style reflects that relationship, for the most part, she does not deploy the same strategy of jokes and movies; so expect nothing but serious philosophical discourse. It tackles with depth and clarity the issue of a "Lacanian ethics," which Lacan himself developed in and after seminar VII on that very topic. Since much of Lacan's seminars are not published in English, it is very nice that Zupancic moves in and out of the body of Lacanian theory to pull together what she is calling an "Ethics of the Real." Perhaps, what is most informative about this book is how it clarifies the distinction between desire and drive in their respective relations to the Real. Unlike most Lacanians, Zupancic is not interested in making outlandish statements, but rather, is engaged in a very serious conversation with Kant and Greek tragedy (she also clarifies why Lacan is constantly interested in tragedy). Indeed, Zupancic is the proverbial student who overcomes her master as this first book of hers already rivals the best of Zizek's own work.

24 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Kant avec Lacan, May 2, 2000

By 

B.J. Packett II (Annapolis, MD) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ethics of The Real: Kant, Lacan (Wo Es War) (Paperback)

Man is not as moral as he believes, but he is also more moral than he believes himself to be. The first half of this seemingly paradoxical statement tells us what we already know: beneath a "reputable", ethical facade, man is driven pathologically, he is a merely a slimy effect of symbolically situated will and social edifice. The second half of this statement is of Lacanian/Kantian import, the truly subversive gesture: the subject is (ethically) free qua empty "link" between cause and effect, qua position of enunciation - he is both answerable to the lack in the Other and the cause of it. Find out why Lacan was Kantian and Kant was, in a way, Lacanian - in short, read this book: it is a genuine piece of scholarship.