‘In this alethosphere the prosthetically enhanced, plugged-in subject does not to flee reality in order to indulge his pleasure principle, for he is now able to remould reality in accordance with it. In other words, in the ultra-modern, advanced capitalist world, the pleasure principle and the reality principle are no longer in competition, but have merged to form a kind of corporation. The image Freud paints is of a friendly takeover of reality by the pleasure principle, which presents the former with a set of blueprints for the global cyber-city of its dreams. But Lacan stresses the underside of this merger. As the twentieth century wore on, and the utopian view of science gave way to dystopian visions, while capitalism grew more muscular, it became more difficult to hold on to the idea that pleasure had the power to programme reality. The reality (of the market) principle was clearly calling the shots, telling the pleasure principle in what to invest and what pleasures out to be sacrificed to get the best returns on those investments.’

- Joan Copjec, ‘May ‘68, The Emotional Month’ in Lacan: The Silent Partners

I suppose it’s natural when starting a blog to provide some kind of introduction. This blog is my attempt to organize my thoughts as I work on the connection(s) between theology, psychoanalysis, and politics. Mostly I’ll focus on things that I’ve been reading, but I’m also interested in aesthetic reflections on these themes. I’m especially interested in photographic interpretations of subjectivity and psychoanalytic critiques of architecture and urban planning.

More to come soon…