Jacques Lacan, Past and Present

Prompted by the thirtieth anniversary of the French philosopher Jacques Lacan's death, this exchange between two prominent intellectuals is rich with surprising insights. Alain Badiou shares the clearest, most detailed account to date of his profound indebtedness to Lacanian psychoanalysis. He explains in depth the tools Lacan gave him to navigate the extremes of his other two philosophical "masters," Jean-Paul Sartre and Louis Althusser. lisabeth Roudinesco supplements Badiou's experience with her own perspective on the troubled landscape of the French analytic world since Lacan's death critiquing, for example, the link (or lack thereof) between politics and psychoanalysis in Lacan's work, among other issues. Their dynamic dialogue draws readers into an intimate, at times contentious, yet ultimately productive debate that reinvigorates the work of a pivotal twentieth-century thinker.

In this dialogue, Alain Badiou shares the clearest, most detailed account to date of his profound indebtedness to Lacanian psychoanalysis. He explains in depth the tools Lacan gave him to navigate the extremes of his other two philosophical “masters,” Jean-Paul Sartre and Louis Althusser. Élisabeth Roudinesco supplements Badiou’s experience with her own perspective on the troubled landscape of the French analytic world since Lacan’s death—critiquing, for example, the link (or lack thereof) between politics and psychoanalysis in Lacan’s work. Their exchange reinvigorates how the the work of a pivotal twentieth-century thinker is perceived.

Prompted by the thirtieth anniversary of the French philosopher Jacques LacanOCOs death, this exchange between two prominent intellectuals is rich with surprising insights. Alain Badiou shares the clearest, most detailed account to date of his profound indebtedness to Lacanian psychoanalysis. He explains in depth the tools Lacan gave him to navigate the extremes of his other two philosophical ?masters, OCO Jean-Paul Sartre and Louis Althusser. elisabeth Roudinesco supplements BadiouOCOs experience with her own perspective on the troubled landscape of the French analytic world since LacanOCOs death?critiquing, for example, the link (or lack thereof) between politics and psychoanalysis in LacanOCOs work, among other issues. Their dynamic dialogue draws readers into an intimate, at times contentious, yet ultimately productive debate that reinvigorates the work of a pivotal twentieth-century thinker."