Lecture 'Meet the PhD jury: Call Yourself Alive? Drive, Desire and Responsibility in Lacan'

In this talk, Prof Dr. Amanda Diserholt will argue that the concept of desire is central to understanding contemporary symptoms and that the notion of the drive cannot be conceptualised in isolation from desire. It will be argued that the two coincide and are inextricable to the point of being indistinguishable, while also operating in distinct opposition to one another.

This will be followed by Prof Dr. Calum Neill’s consideration of the place of responsibility in this conception. Drawing primarily on Lacan’s Seminar on the Ethics of Psychoanalysis, Prof Dr. Neill will explore what it means to cede on one’s desire and the Nietzschean roots of Lacan’s surprising positivity.

There will be time for questions and discussion.