The fifth discourse in Lacanian theory is the discourse of the analyst as radically rethought by Lacan in his late seminars, particularly after Seminar XVII (L’Envers de la psychanalyse, 1969–70). However, when people mention a fifth discourse in the strict sense, they often refer to the Discourse of the Capitalist, which Lacan introduced slightly later (in 1972), as a twisted variant of the Master’s discourse.
Let’s clarify:
Lacan’s Four Original Discourses (1969–70)
Lacan introduced four fundamental discourses as structures of social bonds—each organizing how subjectivity, knowledge, and power circulate:
- Discourse of the Master – Authority imposes order; knowledge serves the Master.
- Discourse of the University – Knowledge is institutionalized; truth is repressed.
- Discourse of the Hysteric – The subject confronts the Other with its dividedness; the analyst is put to work.
- Discourse of the Analyst – The analyst occupies the place of object a, allowing the subject to speak and encounter their division.
These discourses are structured by a rotating set of four terms:
- S1: Master signifier
- S2: Knowledge
- a: Object cause of desire (objet petit a)
- $: Barred subject (split subject)
Each discourse arranges these four terms in a 2×2 matrix that determines how subjectivity is constituted in relation to the Other.
The Fifth Discourse: Discourse of the Capitalist (1972)
This is not just a fifth addition—it’s a mutation or perversion of the Master’s discourse.
Structure-wise, the Discourse of the Capitalist looks like this:
|
Agent (top left): |
S1 (Master Signifier) |
|
Other (top right): |
S2 (Knowledge) |
|
Truth (bottom left): |
$ (Barred Subject) |
|
Product (bottom right): |
a (object a) |
But unlike the Master’s discourse, the Capitalist discourse is “closed upon itself”, meaning:
- It short-circuits the structural impasses that characterize other discourses.
- It produces surplus jouissance without interruption.
- It bypasses the division of the subject, pretending that jouissance is directly accessible, feeding into consumerist logic.
Lacan’s critique:
- The capitalist system eliminates the symptom as a site of truth.
- It promotes rapid consumption of objects and quick fixes.
- It suppresses symbolic detours, instead pushing for immediate gratification.
Lacan remarked that this discourse “turns smoothly, it works too well,” which is exactly the problem—it doesn’t leave room for the subject’s desire, division, or questioning.
Philosophical Implications
The discourse of the Capitalist aligns with what Néstor Braunstein calls the discourse of the Markets—where desire becomes demand, and the subject is formatted as a consumer.
This discourse resonates with:
- Deleuze and Guattari’s critique of capitalism’s deterritorializing/reterritorializing processes.
- Stiegler’s worry about the destruction of psychic individuation by consumer technologies.
- Byung-Chul Han’s view that neoliberalism abolishes the Other, leading to self-exploitation under the tyranny of “achievement.”
In Summary
- The fifth discourse is generally understood as the discourse of the Capitalist, introduced by Lacan in 1972.
- It’s not a stable structure of desire or truth, but rather a hyper-functional loop that masks subjective division, promotes surplus enjoyment, and forecloses the analytic position.
- Psychoanalysis, especially in the discourse of the analyst, seeks to interrupt this cycle and reintroduce the subject’s split and the encounter with lack.
Would you like a diagram or a comparative table of the five discourses?
