AN INSOLUBLE ENIGMA?

Abstract

Evocatively referred to by Alain Badiou as a “final unravelling” and an “insoluble enigma” that “form[s] an integral part of his enigmatic legacy,” Lacan’s dissolution has long been regarded as a quixotic act at odds with reason and common sense. The purpose of this paper, through a close reading of the documents, seminars and epistles regarding dissolution, is to explain the reasons for this action and dispel some of the obscurity surrounding it. I will also attempt to reintegrate the act into Lacan’s intellectual trajectory through an identification of connections between the final and earlier formulations. The question as to how and why Lacan dissolved his school will be approached through the isolation and assessment of three substantive processes: the “research” preceding dissolution, the “work” of dissolution and the “saying” qua act that triggered dissolution.