On a Discourse that Might not Be a Semblance: The Seminar of Jacques Lacan, Book XVIII

The title is, at first glance, enigmatic. Clue: it concerns men and women—their most concrete, amorous, and sexual relations in everyday life, as well as in their dreams and fantasies. It has nothing to do with what biology studies under the heading of sexuality, of course. Must we leave this field to poetry, novels, and ideologies? Lacan attempts to provide a logic for it here—one that is quite cunning.

In the sexual realm, it is not enough to be; one must also exhibit. That is true of ani...