The 'Real Without Law' in Psychoanalysis and Neurosciences

Area of Science:

• Psychoanalysis
• Neuroscience
• Philosophy of Science

Background:

• Lacanian psychoanalysis distinguishes between the scientific real (law-governed) and psychoanalytic real ('real without law').
• This distinction risks creating an unbridgeable gap between psychoanalysis and science.
• However, Freud and Lacan did not advocate for such a separation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine Jacques Lacan's concepts on the relationship between psychoanalysis and science.
• To explore how recent neuroscientific discoveries challenge traditional scientific conceptions of the real.
• To argue for a new alliance between psychoanalysis and science.

Main Methods:

• Conceptual analysis of Lacanian psychoanalytic theory.
• Review of contemporary neuroscientific findings.
• Philosophical examination of the concept of the 'real' in science and psychoanalysis.

Main Results:

• Neuroscience discoveries challenge the notion of a purely deterministic, law-governed scientific real.
• The scientific real is increasingly seen as open to contingencies, akin to the psychoanalytic 'real without law'.
• This convergence offers a basis for reconciling psychoanalysis and science.

Conclusions:

• The traditional separation between psychoanalysis and science is not supported by Freud or Lacan.
• Reconceptualizing the scientific real as open to contingency is crucial for interdisciplinary dialogue.
• A new alliance between psychoanalysis and science is possible and necessary.