The Psychoses 1955-1956 (The Seminar of Jacques Lacan, Book 3 / III) [Hardcover]

Jacques Lacan (Author), Jacques-Alain Miller (Editor), Russell Grigg (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1993

Sometimes controversial, invariably fascinating, Lacan's psycholinguistic approach to analysis of the psychoses is seen here in virtually unmediated form.

Taking us into and beyond the realm of Freudian psychoanalysis, Lacan examines the psychoses' inescapable connection to the symbolic process through which signifier is joined with signified. Lacan deftly navigates the ontological levels of the symbolic, the imaginary, and the real to explain psychosis as "foreclosure," or rejection of the primordial signifier. Then, bridging the gap between the theoretical and the practical, Lacan discusses the implications for treatment. In these lectures on the psychoses, Lacan's renowned theory of metaphor and metonymy, along with the concept of the "quilting point," appears for the first time.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: French

About the Author

The psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan (1901-1981) was one of the twentieth century's most influential thinkers. His many published works include Ecrits and The Seminars.


Jacques-Alain Miller is Director of the Department of Psychoanalysis at the University of Paris VIII and editor of Lacan's Seminars.

Russell Grigg practices psychoanalysis and teaches philosophy and psychoanalytic studies at Deakin University. He lives in Melbourne, Australia. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 341 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company (April 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393034674
• ISBN-13: 978-0393034677
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,921,393 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

The psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan (1901-1981) was one of the twentieth century's most influential thinkers. His many published works include Ecrits and The Seminars.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lacan and the father, September 24, 2000

By 

eric zazie - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Seminar of Jacques Lacan: The Psychoses (Vol. Book III) (The Seminar of Jacques Lacan) (Bk. 3) (Paperback)

Lacan's seminars are superior to his articles because he clearly is addressing an audience, and needs to make himself understood, but he has already anticipated all of his students questions, as if he could read their minds: "I know what you're thinking." The argument of the third seminar is easy to summarize: the psychotic, because foreclosed from the father, faces a hole in the imaginary that is filled by the symbolic (or is it the other way around?), hence the hallucinations and voices. The psychotic always imagines that somewhere the big Other resides, in this world, like the man who broke into the US capital because there was a time machine inside that was trying to control his mind. The psychotic is in fact unable to distinguish the small from the big other. Lacan is always thought to be a little mad himself, something of a fraud, "il gagne beaucoup d'argent," and even Heidegger gave up reading Ecrits because he couldn't make sense of it, and he does make something of a display of his learning (not so much in this seminar). That said, there is something to Lacan, and eventually he will get his due, and outside the narrow circle of his devotees.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Review of Jacques Lacan's Seminar on The Psychoses, October 28, 2006

By 

G. Lagodsky - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Seminar of Jacques Lacan: The Psychoses (Vol. Book III) (The Seminar of Jacques Lacan) (Bk. 3) (Paperback)

This is an essential book for understanding Lacan's overall theoretical framework. Despite the esoteric sounding title, it is not just for specialists and doesn't just treat the subject of psychosis. Lacan reviews and repeats here with greater clarity the theories he developed in his first two seminars.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Lacan to be Read, March 11, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Seminar of Jacques Lacan: The Psychoses (Vol. Book III) (The Seminar of Jacques Lacan) (Bk. 3) (Paperback)

The work of Jacques Lacan is infamous for the often obtuseness of its language and presentation. It is often said that the reader must work hard at Lacan to reach a glimmer of understanding. The work of Dr Russell Grigg as translator to this edition certainly gives the reader a head start. Dr Grigg address the work of Lacan from a new perspective of the 21st century, nolonger happy for the work to remain arcane and cloistered from the reading public, but he throws open the windows of further understanding for those willing to look and read closer the work of this French master. An excellent work.