¹University of Paris (VII)

Correspondence: Professor Jean Laplanche, 55 rue de Varenne, Paris France

¹Translated from Le fourvoiement biologisant de la sexualité chez Freud, Paris: Synthélabo, 1993 by Vincent Ladmiral and Nicholas Ray (with thanks to John Fletcher of the University of Warwick for his invaluable comments on the translation).

Abstract

In this piece, Laplanche returns to and develops the insights of the earlier "Interpreting" essay. He goes on to give a striking re-elaboration of the idea of "exigency" in terms of his own reformulation of Freudian drive theory, arguing that evolution of Freud's thought is constrained and driven (poussé) to re-enact the evolution of the object it thinks: the narcissistic closure of the human psyche. In this connection Laplanche also introduces the related notion of theoretical "goings astray" (fourvoiements) – the extensive coverings-over of the radical Copernican essence of Freud's own discovery, which the exigency of his thought has brought about. As such, this second piece sets out two concepts which, for Laplanche, define the major discursive axes of Freud's oeuvre and thus orient the critical exposition of Freud which is so crucial to Laplanche's own theoretical work.