Ethics of The Real: Kant, Lacan (Wo
Es War) by Alenka Zupancic
Insight Plus Clarity
Kant, sober Enlightenment thinker and philosophers philosopher, seems
the very antithesis of Lacan, the wild theorist of psychoanalysis. But,
drawing on a wide range of writers from Sophocles to de Sade, Alenka
Zupancic here demonstrates that the two thinkers stake everything on a
similar ethical enterprise. For both, ethics is a necessary impossibility-
impossible because of the infinite and inhuman demands it makes on us.
Moreover, both are thinkers of desire, of the ethics of desire and the desire
for ethics.
Personal Review: Ethics of The Real: Kant, Lacan (Wo Es War)
by Alenka Zupancic
This book is necessary reading for anyone interested in learing about
Lacan as well as for anyone already versed in Lacanian theory. Zupancic
is a former pupil of Slavoj Zizek, and though some of her style reflects that
relationship, for the most part, she does not deploy the same strategy of
jokes and movies; so expect nothing but serious philosophical discourse. It

tackles with depth and clarity the issue of a "Lacanian ethics," which Lacan
himself developed in and after seminar VII on that very topic. Since much
of Lacan's seminars are not published in English, it is very nice that
Zupancic moves in and out of the body of Lacanian theory to pull together
what she is calling an "Ethics of the Real." Perhaps, what is most
informative about this book is how it clarifies the distinction between desire
and drive in their respective relations to the Real. Unlike most Lacanians,
Zupancic is not interested in making outlandish statements, but rather, is
engaged in a very serious conversation with Kant and Greek tragedy (she
also clarifies why Lacan is constantly interested in tragedy). Indeed,
Zupancic is the proverbial student who overcomes her master as this first
book of hers already rivals the best of Zizek's own work.
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