LEWIS, Michael, Derrida and Lacan. Another Writing, Edinburgh, Edinburgh University Press, 2008, 296 p.
ISBN 9780748636037
RÉSUMÉ
Derrida and Lacan: Another Writing is a major comparativestudy of these two giants of contemporary thought. It contrastsDerrida's deconstruction with Lacan's psychoanalytic thought and arguesthat Lacan presents us with a form of deconstruction different toDerrida's. This Lacanian approach opens up the possibility of engagingcritically with Derridean deconstruction.
Lacan demonstrates thatan attention to the order of the imaginary, along with the genesis ofthe human being and his language, should cause us to modify ourunderstanding of the relation between language and the real, which isdeconstruction's concern. Michael Lewis argues that this is whatpsychoanalysis offers to philosophy - a way of relating its owntranscendental thought to the insights of the empirical sciences, whichLacan draws upon in his theory of the genesis of the human being and oflanguage. Lewis argues that Derrida's thought represents the mostadvanced formulation of transcendental philosophy, and as a result, ifthe Lacanian criticism may be applied to his work, then it may beapplied to all transcendental thought.
This book engages with theentire development of Lacan's thought in its attempt to demonstratethat Lacan presents an alternative to Derrida's understanding of thenature of 'archi-writing'. It represents a systematic development ofSlavoj ∑i√ek's attempt to present a Lacanian alternative to Derrideandeconstruction. It will be of interest to all readers in continentalthought, transcendental philosophy, psychoanalytic theory, and therelations between philosophy and the natural and human sciences.
BIOGRAPHIE
Michael Lewis is a lecturer in the Philosophy Department at the University of Sussex.