Friday, April 4, 2025

Thomas Svolos (自體的心理學）（車行哲學）

https://www.creighton.edu/campus-directory/svolos-thomas-m


The Aims of Analysis: Miami Seminar on the Late Lacan (Thomas Svolos, 2020) (Alibris, 2025-4-4)



In his “Écrits,” Jacques Lacan evokes the figure of St. John the Baptist with a raised finger that points, though we do not know to where it compels us: “What silence must the analyst now impose upon himself if he is to make out, rising from this bog, the raised finger of Leonardo’s ‘St. John the Baptist,’ if interpretation is to find anew the forsaken horizon of being in which its elusive virtue must be deployed.” This is a clinical inquiry that psychoanalysis still pursues today: what is the direction of an interpretation, what is its aim, as we already recognize the impasses of the endless generation of meaning that can stagnate psychoanalysis? The “Aims of Analysis” explores the use of the “aim” to approach the clinical implications of the later work of French psychoanalyst, Jacques Lacan. Through a close reading of key concepts from the later Seminars of Lacan, the work of Jacques-Alain Miller, and other contemporary psychoanalysts of the Lacanian orientation, Thomas Svolos demonstrates how psychoanalysis today is practiced beyond the normative conventions of the Oedipus Complex. Svolos writes about his own experience in analysis and the experiences of "Analysts of the School" who have given “testimonies of the Pass.” In the Schools of the World Association of Psychoanalysis, Analysts of the School are those analysands who have given testimony to the end of their own analysis. It is a specific dispositif developed by Lacan aimed directly at how knowledge in psychoanalysis may be transmitted. Svolos originally delivered this Seminar in Miami in October 2019 for the Lacanian Compass, a group of the New Lacanian School dedicated to the development and promotion of the Lacanian orientation of psychoanalysis in the United States. 

This book—published by Midden Press—is intended for clinicians, psychoanalysts, and readers of psychoanalytic theory of all backgrounds. Visit lacaniancompass.com for more information.




What are the key points of “The Aims of Analysis: Miami Seminar on the Late Lacan (Thomas Svolos, 2020)”? (ChatGPT, 2025-4-4)


Thomas Svolos’s The Aims of Analysis: Miami Seminar on the Late Lacan (2020) offers an in-depth exploration of Jacques Lacan’s later work, focusing on the objectives and clinical implications of psychoanalysis beyond traditional frameworks. The key points of the book include:

1. Exploration of Psychoanalytic Aims: Svolos examines the direction and purpose of psychoanalytic interpretation, questioning how analysis can move beyond generating endless meaning to address the real issues at hand.

2. Engagement with Lacan’s Later Concepts: The text delves into Lacan’s later seminars, discussing concepts such as the sinthome and jouissance, and their relevance to contemporary psychoanalytic practice.

3. Incorporation of Personal and Colleague Experiences: Svolos integrates reflections from his own analytic journey and includes testimonies from “Analysts of the School,” providing practical insights into the application of Lacanian theory. 

4. Critique of Pre-Modern Scientific Approaches: The book critiques the lingering influences of pre-modern science’s “fantasy of harmony” in contemporary practices, contrasting these with psychoanalysis’s focus on the inherent disharmony in human experience. 

5. Emphasis on Interpretation Techniques: Svolos highlights the importance of interpretations that surprise or baffle, aiming to touch on fixed jouissance related to the body and language, thereby reducing the unconscious. 


Overall, Svolos advocates for a psychoanalytic approach that moves beyond traditional frameworks, engaging directly with the singularities of each analysand’s experience.



Please tell me what are Thomas Svolo’s views on Lacanian Psychoanalysis.  (ChatGPT, 20254-4-4) 

Thomas Svolos, a practicing psychoanalyst and scholar, offers insightful perspectives on Lacanian psychoanalysis, particularly emphasizing the clinical implications of Jacques Lacan’s later work. In his book The Aims of Analysis: Miami Seminar on the Late Lacan, Svolos explores how psychoanalysis today can be practiced beyond the normative conventions of the Oedipus Complex. He delves into key concepts from Lacan’s later seminars, drawing from his own analytic experience and testimonies of Analysts of the School who have completed their analyses. 


Svolos underscores the importance of understanding the “aim” of analysis, focusing on how interpretations can address the real rather than merely generating endless meaning. He highlights the significance of interventions that surprise or baffle, touching on fixed jouissance related to the body and language, thereby reducing the unconscious. 


In interviews, Svolos discusses the contemporary relevance of Lacanian psychoanalysis, noting its potential to address modern symptoms such as addiction and ordinary psychosis. He emphasizes the necessity of adapting psychoanalytic practice to the evolving symbolic order, advocating for a nuanced understanding of subjectivity in today’s context. 


Overall, Svolos advocates for a psychoanalytic approach that moves beyond traditional frameworks, engaging directly with the singularities of each analysand’s experience. His work reflects a commitment to preserving the depth and complexity of Lacanian theory while making it applicable to contemporary clinical practice.



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