Böcker av Jean Laplanche

Publication of these lectures from the 1989-90 seminar on après-coup completes the English translation of the three major works from a period of Laplanche's greatest synthetic creativity, the other two being New Foundations for Psychoanalysis (1987) and The Temptation of Biology: Freud's theories of sexuality (1991-92). This volume also includes two related essays from the same period translated by Luke Thurston: "Time and the Other" and "Temporality and Translation."In "Time and the Other," first presented the month after the end of the seminar, Laplanche wrote, "après-coup is an expression taken from everyday speech and converted into a noun (Nachträglichkeit) at a specific moment in the letters to Fliess, and which Freud himself then privileges as a technical term. Everything confirms this."The lectures on après-coup are important not only because they solidify the (re)discovery of a concept fundamental to psychoanalytic metapsychology, but also because they point to what is unfinished in Laplanche's theorizing of what he called Freud's 'Unfinished Copernican Revolution.' At the center of that unfinished work is the question of the nature of the urge to translate, to understand, to make meaning. The urge to translate is at the origin of the drives. The relation of translation and après-coup is captured in this excerpt from the last lecture:"Why then invoke a theory, a translational model of après-coup and, more generally, a translational model of the theory of seduction and even a translational model of the constitution of the human being? It is because there is no mental process that captures the double movement better than translation, the indivisible double movement of the "being carried forward" and of "referring back." The "being carried forward" is nothing other than what I designate as a "fundamental to-be-translated": a demand to translate the message of the other."- Jean Laplanche

The Temptation of Biology is one of Laplanche's central achievements in the latter half of his career: a major monograph on sexuality. Originally published in 1987 as Le fourvoiement biologisant de la sexualité chez Freud, republished in 1999 as La sexualité humaine and as Problématiques VII in2006, in this volume it is followed by Laplanche's 1997 talk at the University of Buenos Aires when he was awarded the title Doctor Honoris Causa, a paper which addresses a key aspect of the monograph: "Biologism and Biology."Laplanche's work is widely recognized as offering what may be the most important - certainly the most coherent - development and correction ofFreud's theories of sexuality. Building upon the 1984 volume New Foundations for Psychoanalysis, which Laplanche called the "hinge" of his theorizing, this book examines the origins of infantile sexuality. Laplanche works to demystify and demythologize the cult of biology within the work of Freud and his successors, to develop a theory of sexuality that both challenges and restores Freud's own foundational insights. In this remarkable translation, the text remains just as clear and illuminating as the original French. It is stimulating, rigorous, and (perhaps atypical for a work of theory) a pleasure to read.

The appearance of New Foundations for Psychoanalysis in 1987 marked the beginning of five years that may be the period of Laplanche's greatest synthetic creativity during which he articulated the central concepts of his thinking. Along with New Foundations this period saw the seminar on après-coup of 1989-1990-later published as Problématiques VI; the seminar of 1991-1992 published as Probléma­tiques VII: Le fourvoiement biologisant de la sexualité chez Freud and, in an English translation by Donald Nicholson-Smith, as The Temptation of Biology: Freud's Theories of Sexuality and much else.New Foundations is a synthesis of Laplanche's conceptual research going back to Life and Death in Psychoanalysis of 1970 and, before that, to works co-authored with J.-B. Pontalis and with Serge Leclaire. Referring to Problématiques I through Problématiques V (1970 - 1984), Laplanche writes, "Now the moment has come to show how my positions are connected with each other." He certainly does just that and, most importantly, New Foundations was the first major presenta­tion of the General Theory of Seduction (GTS) that guided his work for the rest of his life even as he continued to refine it.Later, from a different angle Laplanche refers to the GTS as the Funda­mental Anthropological Situation. The GTS will provide the basis for unearthing and extending Freud's translational model of repression leading Laplanche to propose "a translational model of après-coup and, more generally, a translational model of the theory of seduction and even a translational model of the constitution of the human being." He will speak of translational theories of psychic trauma, of infantile sexu­ality, and ultimately, of translation as a mechanism at the origin of the human subject as a self-narrating, self-theorizing creature."Starting from radical, violent challenges to established themes inevitably leads to a new theme with new patterns, new concepts or a new framework for the concepts that emerge. My positions on drive, narcissism, language, and many other topics are precise, but in the Problématiques they appear in a scattered form. Now the moment has come to show how my positions are connected. Will this entail schematization and oversimplification? To some degree that is inevitable, and from the beginning of this presentation I unhappily feel that weight, which is to say the necessity to cover the theme of foundations and the desire to get to my conclusions. So, in this text, I am in a race against the clock and my approach will be less that of the flaneur and less in the form of a "spiral development" of ideas, than was my approach in the Problématiques."-Jean Laplanche

Freud and the Sexual is the translation of Laplanche's Sexual: La sexualité élargie au sens freudien, his work from 2000 to 2006, and a groundbreaking book by the French psychoanalyst Jean Laplanche that challenges traditional interpretations of Sigmund Freud's theories on sexuality. In this book, Laplanche argues that Freud's work has been misunderstood and misinterpreted, and that his ideas on sexuality are much more complex and nuanced than is commonly thought.Laplanche draws on his extensive knowledge of Freud's writings and the history of psychoanalysis to explore the origins and evolution of Freud's theories on sexuality. He examines the ways in which Freud's ideas were shaped by his personal experiences, his cultural and historical context, and the influence of his patients.Laplanche also presents a compelling critique of the "Oedipus complex," which has long been considered a central tenet of Freudian theory. He argues that this concept has been overemphasized and oversimplified, and that it has limited our understanding of the complexities of human sexuality.Through his rigorous analysis and insightful commentary, Laplanche offers a fresh perspective on Freud's ideas, challenging readers to rethink their assumptions about human sexuality and the role of psychoanalysis in understanding it.Freud and the Sexual is a must-read for anyone interested in the history of psychoanalysis, the evolution of Freud's ideas, or the complexities of human sexuality. It is a masterful work of scholarship and a valuable contribution to the ongoing debate about the nature of the human psyche.

The appearance of New Foundations for Psychoanalysis in 1987 marked the beginning of five years that may be the period of Laplanche's greatest synthetic creativity during which he articulated the central concepts of his thinking. Along with New Foundations this period saw the seminar on après-coup of 1989-1990-later published as Problématiques VI; the seminar of 1991-1992 published as Probléma­tiques VII: Le fourvoiement biologisant de la sexualité chez Freud and, in an English translation by Donald Nicholson-Smith, as The Temptation of Biology: Freud's Theories of Sexuality and much else.New Foundations is a synthesis of Laplanche's conceptual research going back to Life and Death in Psychoanalysis of 1970 and, before that, to works co-authored with J.-B. Pontalis and with Serge Leclaire. Referring to Problématiques I through Problématiques V (1970 - 1984), Laplanche writes, "Now the moment has come to show how my positions are connected with each other." He certainly does just that and, most importantly, New Foundations was the first major presenta­tion of the General Theory of Seduction (GTS) that guided his work for the rest of his life even as he continued to refine it.Later, from a different angle Laplanche refers to the GTS as the Funda­mental Anthropological Situation. The GTS will provide the basis for unearthing and extending Freud's translational model of repression leading Laplanche to propose "a translational model of après-coup and, more generally, a translational model of the theory of seduction and even a translational model of the constitution of the human being." He will speak of translational theories of psychic trauma, of infantile sexu­ality, and ultimately, of translation as a mechanism at the origin of the human subject as a self-narrating, self-theorizing creature.

It is an uncannily precise delineation of the perverse rigor with which Freud's most virulent discoveries perpetually escape him-and are endlessly rediscovered.

Jean Laplanche is an incisive and important representative of contemporary psychoanalytic theorists. This text presents in English many of Laplanche's key essays and also provides an overview of his work.