Book Publications by William J. Urban
FROM THE BACK COVER: What is the essential nature of meaning? . . . . . This book answers by exam... more FROM THE BACK COVER: What is the essential nature of meaning? . . . . . This book answers by examining interpretive theories from the past and present. It finds that an historical struggle with meaning has been underway since the Reformation, a struggle that reaches crisis proportions in the 20th century. On the one hand, this crisis is mollified by Heidegger's hermeneutical phenomenology, which argues that we are always already in a meaningful relationship to the objects of the world. On the other hand, this crisis is exacerbated when phenomenology, structuralism, and aesthetic theory directly make meaning into an object of study. . . . . . . . . These historical developments culminate with the psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan, whose non-hermeneutical phenomenology delimits a cause of meaning said to be closely linked to the core of subjectivity. Intriguingly, Lacan's work reveals meaning to be sexual in nature. By integrating his notion of sexual difference with his work in discourse theory and topology, this book demonstrates how the subject's struggle with meaning can be suspended.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GENERAL DESCRIPTION: Broadly speaking, the majority of books on Jacques Lacan focus on the earlier periods of his career. They also tend to target the psychoanalytic clinical community, or else discuss his work in various political, social, and cultural contexts. But in almost all cases these books refrain from a detailed exegesis of his actual texts. They instead prefer to comment on his theoretical apparatus as a whole before turning to its practical implications. . . . . . This book positions itself against this grain. Firstly, it closely analyzes some half-dozen key Lacanian texts. This analysis is organized under a single thematic – the question of meaning – in order to advance the reader's understanding of the trajectory of Lacan's thought across his entire career, as well as to promote the book's thesis that the field of meaning can be suspended. Accordingly, an initial chapter takes up the hermeneutical tradition from Flacius onward. This is then supplemented by a chapter which surveys phenomenological, structuralist and aesthetic theories of meaning and their differing methods of textual analysis. Together these two chapters provide a unique context for the sustained analysis of Lacan's texts which begins in the third chapter, an analysis that forms the bulk of the book's content. This contextualization potentially widens the book's appeal to any scholar wishing to explore his relationship to those textual objects he interacts with on a daily basis. And because this book assumes the reader has little to no familiarity with Lacan, the reader will find patient explanations of the basics of his theories before slowly being led up to the more difficult theories of his late years. Again the argument is that Lacan has something to offer all scholars. His work is not just reserved for psychoanalysts. . . . . . It is with his late theories that the serious student of Lacan will find the book's most original contribution. For in the fourth chapter a detailed account is provided of how Lacan derived his infamous formulae of sexuation from Aristotelian logic. These formulae are then extensively discussed against the backdrop of interpretive theory and textual analysis, showing how these formulae capture much more than just the difference between the sexes. Strikingly, this difference is also found to run through meaning itself, something the final chapter aims to demonstrate. It does this by amalgamating three key components of late-Lacan: sexuation, discourse theory and his use of topological spaces. This amalgamation is a first in the literature. But this amalgamation is not just useful in demonstrating the book's thesis. It further suggests how seemingly divergent aspects of late-Lacanian theory can be made to work together.
This link will bring you to a web page where you can download a free PDF copy of the book LACAN A... more This link will bring you to a web page where you can download a free PDF copy of the book LACAN AND MEANING: Sexuation, Discourse Theory, and Topology in the Age of Hermeneutics
LACAN AND MEANING: Sexuation, Discourse Theory and Topology in the Age of Hermeneutics . . . . . ... more LACAN AND MEANING: Sexuation, Discourse Theory and Topology in the Age of Hermeneutics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
I. Comparison of LACAN AND MEANING with Existing Works . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
II. Readership and Market for LACAN AND MEANING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
III. Reasons for Writing LACAN AND MEANING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
IV. Fast Facts on LACAN AND MEANING
This hyperlink takes you to the complete text of LACAN AND MEANING, Chapter 3: Lacan on Meaning
Journal Publications by William J. Urban
Canadian Review of Comparative Literature, 2017
Paper published in the Canadian Review of Comparative Literature, vol. 44.2, pp. 336-338 (June 2017)
International Journal of Zizek Studies, 2011
This paper employs Žižek’s essay “Fichte’s Laughter” (2009) to examine and defend the merits of F... more This paper employs Žižek’s essay “Fichte’s Laughter” (2009) to examine and defend the merits of Fichtean subjectivity. Lacan’s formulae of sexuation are used as a framework for the discussion. Having these formulae in mind not only makes the difference between Fichte’s and Kant’s subject readily visible, but also considerably eases the effort to work through the three propositional stages of the Wissenschaftslehre in which the doctrine of the Anstoß plays a central role. Although Fichte’s philosophical system never reaches a full speculative identity in which the feminine and masculine logics are experienced together, because of Žižek’s insight into the homology between the Anstoß and the Lacanian objet a, Fichte’s I nevertheless remains relevant to our modern notion of subjectivity.
Paper published in the Avello Publishing Journal, v.1, n.1 (2011) with accompanying 2 1/2 minute ... more Paper published in the Avello Publishing Journal, v.1, n.1 (2011) with accompanying 2 1/2 minute film.
Paper published in the International Journal of Zizek Studies, v.2, n.2 (2008).
Invited Talks by William J. Urban
This talk was given at the Toronto Psychoanalytic Society on July 13, 2014.
Dissertation by William J. Urban
"ABSTRACT:
This study assumes the subject's pursuit of meaning is generally incapacitating ... more "ABSTRACT:
This study assumes the subject's pursuit of meaning is generally incapacitating and should be suspended. It aims to demonstrate how such a suspension is theoretically accomplished by utilizing Lacan's formulae of sexuation integrated with his work in discourse theory and topology.
Part I places this study into context by examining scholarship from the established fields of hermeneutics, phenomenology, (post)structuralism, aesthetic theory and psychoanalysis in order to extract out their respective theory of meaning. These theories reveal that an historical struggle with meaning has been underway since the Reformation and reaches near crisis proportions in the 20th century. On the one hand this crisis is mollified by the rise of Heideggerian-Gadamerian hermeneutical phenomenology which questions traditional epistemological approaches to the text using a new ontological conceptualization of meaning and a conscious rejection of methodology. On the other hand this crisis is exacerbated when the ubiquitous nature of meaning is itself challenged by (post)structuralism's discovery of the signifier which inscribes a limit to meaning, and by the domains of sense and nonsense newly opened up by aesthetic theory. These historical developments culminate in the field of psychoanalysis which most consequentially delimits a cause of meaning said to be closely linked to the core of subjectivity.
Part II extends these findings by rigorously constructing out of the Lacanian sexuated formulae a decidedly non-hermeneutical phenomenological approach useful in demonstrating the sexual nature of meaning. Explicated in their static state by way of an account of their original derivation from the Aristotelian logical square, it is argued that these four formulae are relevant to basic concerns of textual theory inclusive of the hermeneutical circle of meaning. These formulae are then set into motion by integrating them with Lacan's four discourses to demonstrate the breakdown of meaning. Finally, the cuts and sutures of two-dimensional space that is topology as set down in L'étourdit are performed to confirm how the very field of meaning is ultimately suspended from a nonsensical singular point known in Lacanian psychoanalysis as objet a. The contention is that by occupying this point the subject frees himself from the debilitating grip of meaning."
Papers by William J. Urban
Conference Presentations by William J. Urban
presentation delivered April 27, 2013 at "Knowledge at the Borders of Disciplinarity" conference,... more presentation delivered April 27, 2013 at "Knowledge at the Borders of Disciplinarity" conference, York University
presentation delivered April 8, 2011
Course Papers by William J. Urban
course paper written Good Friday, April 6, 2012
Standing at the apex of the late 18th– early 19th century German Idealist tradition, contemporary... more Standing at the apex of the late 18th– early 19th century German Idealist tradition, contemporary thought has all but universally dismissed the philosophy of G. W. F. Hegel. Against this current this paper travels with those select few who today call for a serious re-examination of Hegel as the sought after theoretical foundation for true radical critique. To that end we unabashedly utilize Žižek's persuasive work to organize a re-reading of the Phenomenology of Spirit, Hegel's most well-known and arguably single greatest work. We begin with its first chapter on sense-certainty to find that Hegel's discussion of language is still highly relevant; then travel through its key third chapter on the understanding to put it to use to undermine our continuing and highly counterproductive obsession with deep meaning; only to end with the mother of all Hegelian topics, Absolute Knowing, to find that it is not some absurd egotistical stance but quite possibly the most modest position a modern subject can assume. Stopping along the way to reconsider a few other 'figures of consciousness', this strategy – organized as it is under the twin topics of meaning and subjectivity – amounts to a non-hermeneutical phenomenological approach to the Phenomenology which simultaneously endeavors to theorize such a textual approach in general.
course paper written December 17, 2010
course paper written October 26, 2010
course paper written May 31, 2010
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Book Publications by William J. Urban
I. Comparison of LACAN AND MEANING with Existing Works . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
II. Readership and Market for LACAN AND MEANING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
III. Reasons for Writing LACAN AND MEANING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
IV. Fast Facts on LACAN AND MEANING
Journal Publications by William J. Urban
Invited Talks by William J. Urban
Dissertation by William J. Urban
This study assumes the subject's pursuit of meaning is generally incapacitating and should be suspended. It aims to demonstrate how such a suspension is theoretically accomplished by utilizing Lacan's formulae of sexuation integrated with his work in discourse theory and topology.
Part I places this study into context by examining scholarship from the established fields of hermeneutics, phenomenology, (post)structuralism, aesthetic theory and psychoanalysis in order to extract out their respective theory of meaning. These theories reveal that an historical struggle with meaning has been underway since the Reformation and reaches near crisis proportions in the 20th century. On the one hand this crisis is mollified by the rise of Heideggerian-Gadamerian hermeneutical phenomenology which questions traditional epistemological approaches to the text using a new ontological conceptualization of meaning and a conscious rejection of methodology. On the other hand this crisis is exacerbated when the ubiquitous nature of meaning is itself challenged by (post)structuralism's discovery of the signifier which inscribes a limit to meaning, and by the domains of sense and nonsense newly opened up by aesthetic theory. These historical developments culminate in the field of psychoanalysis which most consequentially delimits a cause of meaning said to be closely linked to the core of subjectivity.
Part II extends these findings by rigorously constructing out of the Lacanian sexuated formulae a decidedly non-hermeneutical phenomenological approach useful in demonstrating the sexual nature of meaning. Explicated in their static state by way of an account of their original derivation from the Aristotelian logical square, it is argued that these four formulae are relevant to basic concerns of textual theory inclusive of the hermeneutical circle of meaning. These formulae are then set into motion by integrating them with Lacan's four discourses to demonstrate the breakdown of meaning. Finally, the cuts and sutures of two-dimensional space that is topology as set down in L'étourdit are performed to confirm how the very field of meaning is ultimately suspended from a nonsensical singular point known in Lacanian psychoanalysis as objet a. The contention is that by occupying this point the subject frees himself from the debilitating grip of meaning."
Papers by William J. Urban
Conference Presentations by William J. Urban
Course Papers by William J. Urban
I. Comparison of LACAN AND MEANING with Existing Works . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
II. Readership and Market for LACAN AND MEANING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
III. Reasons for Writing LACAN AND MEANING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
IV. Fast Facts on LACAN AND MEANING
This study assumes the subject's pursuit of meaning is generally incapacitating and should be suspended. It aims to demonstrate how such a suspension is theoretically accomplished by utilizing Lacan's formulae of sexuation integrated with his work in discourse theory and topology.
Part I places this study into context by examining scholarship from the established fields of hermeneutics, phenomenology, (post)structuralism, aesthetic theory and psychoanalysis in order to extract out their respective theory of meaning. These theories reveal that an historical struggle with meaning has been underway since the Reformation and reaches near crisis proportions in the 20th century. On the one hand this crisis is mollified by the rise of Heideggerian-Gadamerian hermeneutical phenomenology which questions traditional epistemological approaches to the text using a new ontological conceptualization of meaning and a conscious rejection of methodology. On the other hand this crisis is exacerbated when the ubiquitous nature of meaning is itself challenged by (post)structuralism's discovery of the signifier which inscribes a limit to meaning, and by the domains of sense and nonsense newly opened up by aesthetic theory. These historical developments culminate in the field of psychoanalysis which most consequentially delimits a cause of meaning said to be closely linked to the core of subjectivity.
Part II extends these findings by rigorously constructing out of the Lacanian sexuated formulae a decidedly non-hermeneutical phenomenological approach useful in demonstrating the sexual nature of meaning. Explicated in their static state by way of an account of their original derivation from the Aristotelian logical square, it is argued that these four formulae are relevant to basic concerns of textual theory inclusive of the hermeneutical circle of meaning. These formulae are then set into motion by integrating them with Lacan's four discourses to demonstrate the breakdown of meaning. Finally, the cuts and sutures of two-dimensional space that is topology as set down in L'étourdit are performed to confirm how the very field of meaning is ultimately suspended from a nonsensical singular point known in Lacanian psychoanalysis as objet a. The contention is that by occupying this point the subject frees himself from the debilitating grip of meaning."