Chiesa reintroduces us to Lacan in the same way Lacan reintroduces us to Freud: setting aside received ideas, false projections, and impressionistic readings, he uncovers what is most basic and original in Lacan's thought while demonstrating conclusively why an engagement with it is indispensable for contemporary philosophy. Not a fly-over summary of the Lacanian corpus, the book manages rather to capture the eventful moments of hesitancy, insight, recasting, in short, the movement of Lacan's thought as it grapples with the critical relation between subjectivity and otherness. This is a dynamic, matchless reading of Lacan that will ignite new interest in his work and rekindle the passions of initiates.
Joan Copjec, author of Imagine There's No Woman
Lorenzo Chiesa has written a philosophical account of Lacan's teaching that is both a superb introduction and a penetrating study of his major contributions, from the initial discovery that the unconscious is structured like a language to a detailed analysis of the subject of jouissance. Newcomers will find a clear, step-by-step exposition of the major themes, while those already familiar with Lacan's contribution to psychoanalysis will find intense stimulation in Chiesa's philosophical engagement with Lacanian thought.
Russell Grigg, Director, Psychoanalytic Studies and Associate Professor, Philosophy, Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia
This is a rich and complex book that any philosopher of mind who is interested in consciousness will find indispensable. Zahavi is a master of incorporating into his arguments insights from both analytic philosophy and phenomenology, and so the book will appeal to philosophers from both traditions.
Greg Janzen
Psyche
With this volume, Lorenzo Chiesa establishes himself as the leader of a new generation of 'young Lacanians', for whom Lacan is primarily a text that needs to be read. Avoiding the need to pledge his doctrinal allegiance to a master, and refusing the endless regurgitation of mantras, Chiesa ploughs through the Lacanian territory with a razor-sharp intellect, constantly unearthing original themes and motifs, and weaving patterns of thought into an intellectual system that proves to be everything but systematic and, for that matter, all the more convincing. Chiesa reads Lacan philosophically, not just insofar as he short-circuits psychoanalysis and philosophy, but also insofar as he approaches the dense text with extreme care and conscientiousness. I don't think Lacan has ever been read with so much patience and exactitude, and had this book been produced during Lacan's lifetime, there is no doubt that he would have recommended it to his audience as a brilliant example of critical reading.
Dany Nobus, Professor of Psychology and Psychoanalysis, Brunel University, UK
