Deleuze and Analysis: Lack◇Excess
A New Year-Long Course by Terence Blake starts January 15th 2025
In 2025, Philosophy Portal will be hosting a year-long course titled “Deleuze and Analysis: Lack◇Excess” taught by Prof.
. "Deleuze and Analysis: Lack◇Excess" is a ten-session course that delves into the philosophical intersections between Gilles Deleuze and Jacques Lacan, focusing on the dynamic interplay of lack and excess as central themes in their works. Through critical readings and discussions, the course examines how both thinkers conceptualize desire, drive, machinism, language, subjectivity, and the production of jouissance. By exploring key texts and integrating perspectives from philosophers like Alain Badiou and Slavoj Žižek, participants will gain a comprehensive understanding of how Deleuze and Lacan's ideas converge and diverge, contradict and sublate, enriching contemporary philosophical research programmes.The course employs the diamond-punch ◇ as a creative heuristic to navigate complex theoretical landscapes, fostering insightful analyses of concepts such as desire as production, the creation of concepts, and the ontology of the Real.
Designed for individuals interested in philosophy, psychoanalysis, and critical theory, this course invites participants to engage deeply with transformative ideas that challenge traditional paradigms and open new avenues for thought.
Terence Blake is a philosopher whose postgraduate work focused in epistemology and the philosophy of science. He admired and worked on the pluralist thought of Paul Feyerabend and James Hillman before discovering the work of Michel Foucault, Gilles Deleuze, and Jean-François Lyotard and taught himself French to be able to read their books in the original language. ANTI-OEDIPUS and RHIZOME in particular were a revelation.
Blake attended the lectures of Foucault, Deleuze and Lyotard in Paris in the 1980s. He also met his wife in Paris, and after 7 years moved South to Nice, on the French Riviera (books are fine but I also need sun and warmth!) where he studied linguistics with Jean-Claude Souesme. He obtained the agrégation (specialising in linguistics) is at present an English teacher in a senior high school and at the university.
Blake is interested in contemporary French philosophy on the general theme of “pluralism, individuation, and a world of becoming”, principally: Bernard Stiegler, Gilles Deleuze, François Laruelle, Bruno Latour, Alain Badiou, but also likes Hubert Dreyfus, Stanley Cavell, and William Connolly.
Two ways to access: purchase the course as a stand-alone seminar, or join The Portal as a monthly/yearly member
Session Summaries
Session 1: The Incipit of “Anti-Oedipus”: Desire, Drive, and the Enunciative Context
In this session, we explore the opening paragraphs of Deleuze and Guattari's Anti-Oedipus, focusing on how the text establishes a context that is both expressive (enunciative) and machinic. We examine their reconceptualization of desire as a mixture of Lacanian desire and drive, emphasizing the role of partial objects. The session analyzes how the three syntheses of the unconscious are implicit in these passages, constructing a "desiring" subject as one of jouissance.
Session 2: Contextualising “Destroy, Destroy…”: In “Anti-Oedipus”
This session addresses the provocative excerpt from Anti-Oedipus that begins with "Destroy, destroy..." Often misinterpreted when taken out of context, we reexamine this passage to reveal Deleuze and Guattari's constructive intentions. We discuss how destruction serves as a pathway to creation, liberating desire from oppressive structures and highlighting the productive potential inherent in dismantling the old.
Session 3: The Noetic Paths of Deleuze and Lacan—Exploring “I Have Nothing to Declare” and Lacan’s Introduction to Seminar XI
We delve into the intellectual journeys of Deleuze and Lacan by examining Deleuze's "I Have Nothing to Declare" and Lacan's introduction to Seminar XI: The Four Fundamental Concepts of Psychoanalysis. This session uncovers how their self-reflections inform their theories on desire, lack, and excess, providing insight into their approaches to philosophy and psychoanalysis and setting the foundation for deeper exploration.
Session 4: Deepening the Understanding of Deleuze and Lacan’s Paths—Deleuze’s Dialogues and Lacan’s “Tuché and Automaton”
Building on the previous session, we further examine Deleuze's Dialogues and Chapter 5 of Lacan's Seminar XI, titled "Tuché and Automaton." We explore their concepts of chance, repetition, and the encounter with the Real, deepening our understanding of how both thinkers address the unpredictable elements of experience. This session highlights the intersections and divergences in their philosophical trajectories concerning desire and subjectivity.
Session 5: Moving Beyond Stereotypes—Deleuze and Lacan’s Shifts in Theoretical Focus
This session challenges the stereotypical images of Deleuze as a philosopher of difference and Lacan as a philosopher of the signifier. We investigate how Deleuze moved from an ontology of difference to one of multiplicities, particularly after Difference and Repetition, and how Lacan transitioned from focusing on the signifier to emphasizing enunciation toward the end of the 1960s. This exploration reveals the evolution and depth of their thought beyond common perceptions.
Session 6: Alain Badiou as a Bridge Between Deleuze and Lacan—Ontologies of Multiplicities and the Real
We explore Alain Badiou's role in bridging Deleuze and Lacan by examining his development of an ontology of multiplicities that extends Lacan's concept of the Real. This session discusses how Deleuze's move to an ontology of multiplicities aligns with Badiou's interpretation of the Real, highlighting the compatibility between Deleuze's and Lacan's philosophies and their shared engagement with the complexities of reality.
Session 7: Desire as Production—Deleuze and Guattari’s Collaboration and Lacan’s Theory of Discourses
Focusing on the period when Deleuze began collaborating with Félix Guattari, we discuss their model of desire as production, aligning closely with the concept of the drive. Concurrently, we examine Lacan's development of his theory of discourses as types of production. This session analyzes the parallels between their approaches, emphasizing how both theories conceptualize desire and social structures as mechanisms of production.
Session 8: Slavoj Žižek as a Bridge Between Deleuze and Lacan—Exploring the Alliance Around the Real
In this session, we consider Slavoj Žižek's proposal of a potential alliance between Deleuze and Lacan centered around the Real. We explore how Žižek bridges their philosophies by highlighting convergences in their concepts of desire, subjectivity, and the ineffable aspects of reality. This examination uncovers deeper compatibilities and enriches our understanding of the interplay between lack and excess.
Session 9: What Is Philosophy? Analysing Philosophy Through the Graph of Desire and the Creation of Concepts
We critically engage with Deleuze and Guattari's idea that philosophy is the creation of concepts, utilizing Lacan's graph of desire to analyze this proposition. By examining how Lacan reinterprets Freud's fundamental concepts within his linguistic framework, we explore the dynamic interplay between lack and excess in the philosophical process. This session illuminates how the desire to address gaps in knowledge drives the creation of new concepts.
Session 10: The Diamond-Punch ◇ as a Creative Heuristic—Condensing the Underlying Logic of Desire, Excess and Pulsation
In this final session, we synthesize the course's key themes by focusing on the diamond-punch ◇ as a creative heuristic that encapsulates the underlying logic of our exploration into desire, drive, lack, excess, and pulsation. We delve into how this symbol can formalize Lacan's concept of pulsation from Seminar XI, providing a visual and conceptual tool to understand the rhythmic emergence of the unconscious and the interplay between the symbolic and the Real. This session reinforces the course's emphasis on innovative thinking and the creation of concepts that help us to navigate the complexities of existing psychoanalytic and philosophical theories and to speak in our own name.
Two ways to access: purchase the course as a stand-alone seminar, or join The Portal as a monthly/yearly member
Message from the Prof.: You will engage with transformative ideas that challenge conventional understandings of desire, drive, subjectivity, and reality. This course offers a unique opportunity to explore the rich philosophical landscapes of Deleuze and Lacan, providing valuable insights for scholars, students, creators, and anyone interested in the intersections of philosophy and psychoanalysis. Join us for a journey that promises to expand your thinking, suggest new perspectives, and inspire new projects.
2025 / Online / Wednesdays 7pm CET (Central European Time)
January 15th / Session 1: The Incipit of “Anti-Oedipus” — Desire, Drive, and the Enunciative Context
February 19th / Session 2: Contextualising “Destroy, Destroy…” — In “Anti-Oedipus”
March 19th / Session 3: The Noetic Paths of Deleuze and Lacan —Exploring "I Have Nothing to Declare" and Lacan's Introduction to Seminar XI
April 16th / Session 4: Deepening the Understanding of Deleuze and Lacan’s Paths — Deleuze's Dialogues and Lacan's "Tuché and Automaton"
May 21st / Session 5: Moving Beyond Stereotypes — Deleuze and Lacan's Shifts in Theoretical Focus
June 18th / Session 6: Alain Badiou as a Bridge Between Deleuze and Lacan — Ontologies of Multiplicities and the Real
September 17th / Session 7: Desire as Production — Deleuze and Guattari's Collaboration and Lacan's Theory of Discourses
October 15th / Session 8: Slavoj Žižek as a Bridge Between Deleuze and Lacan — Exploring the Alliance Around the Real
November 19th / Session 9: What Is Philosophy? Analyzing Philosophy Through the Graph of Desire and the Creation of Concepts
December 17th / Session 10: The Diamond-Punch ◇ as a Creative — Condensing the Underlying Logic of Desire, Excess and Pulsation
Two ways to access: purchase the course as a stand-alone seminar, or join The Portal as a monthly/yearly member
Terence is a gem. Incredible he is gifting and blessing us with this undertaking. It's the conversation that needs to be had, and I'm eager to learn from him.
I find piquing going from Scientific Epistemics to Focault, but, on that tenor I have a controversial post, several actually like Beauty and Last, the first in informal logic, but following, thanks:
https://open.substack.com/pub/federicosotodelalba/p/a-letter-to-humans-on-planet-earth?r=4up0lp