Description

Seemingly paradoxically, especially since the dawn of neoliberalism empathy has been touted as a panacea for social ills of all sorts, from xenophobic and racial hatred to problems in romantic relationships to social isolation.  Similarly, the practice of psychotherapy and several modalities of psychoanalysis—including self-psychology, intersubjective, and relational psychoanalysis—are thought to revolve around empathy as the cornerstone of clinical practice.  On the other hand, empathy does not seem to have a place in the Lacanian lexicon, potentially even being seen as anathema to Lacanian psychoanalysts.  So how, then, from a Lacanian perspective, might we view the concept of empathy in tandem with the various contexts in which it is employed?  This talk seeks to answer that question via a number of Lacan’s key concepts—especially the three orders of experience and extimacy—and by way of Lacan’s four (or five) discourses, with a focus on the practice of empathy within Lacanian psychoanalysis.