Laplanche

An introduction to the work of Laplanche. The emphasis will be on his recent work which is the culmination of this theorizing and is accessible even to those unfamiliar with French psychoanalysis. By the end of the course students will be thoroughly familiar with Laplanche’s central concepts, their origins in Freud and in Laplanche’s own development, and their relation to other psychoanalytic theorizing on the same topics. The central themes include “the Generalized Theory of Seduction”, “the Fundamental Anthropological Situation”, and “the Translational Model of Repression”. Some familiarity with Freud work, not merely secondary sources, is expected and re-reading certain of his texts will be helpful or even necessary during the course. Some familiarity with Freud is expected and reading or re-reading the works of Freud which Laplanche addresses will be helpful although perhaps not essential.