Heidegger and Lacan on the occlusion of the subject
pp. 168-189
in: Hugh J. Silverman, Algis Mickunas, Alphonso Lingis, Theodore Kisiel (eds), The horizons of continental philosophy, Berlin, Springer, 1988Abstract
Since Descartes, the concept of subject, as constitutive monadic consciousness, has not only become a commonplace in philosophy, but also a technological disposition (Befindlichkeit) which determines prevailing political and social views. The representational configurations of the Cartesian cogito have revealed a subject that is confined to the commodification of thought in the contemporary world. Both Lacan and Heidegger insist that thinking should be guarded against the urge to reify the subject in its logocentric deference to dialectical mediations. Thus their strategy commands that thinking affirm the subversion of the subject by means of a "deconstructive' linguistic turn.
