The Title of the Letter : A Reading of Lacan

This book is a close reading of Jacques Lacans seminal essay, "The Agency of the Letter in the Unconscious or Reason Since Freud, " selected for the particular light it casts on Lacans complex relation to linguistics, psychoanalysis, and philosophy. It clarifies the way Lacan renews or transforms the psychoanalytic field, through his diversion of Saussures theory of the sign, his radicalization of Freuds fundamental concepts, and his subversion of dominant philosophical values. The authors argue, however, that Lacans discourse is marked by a deep ambiguity: while he invents a new "language," he nonetheless maintains the traditional metaphysical motifs of systemacity, foundation, and truth.