Human exceptionality in Jacques Lacan’s thinking. Some ethical and epistemological implications
Abstract
The critical perspective of anthropocentrism developed by philosophers such as Jean-Marie Schaeffer and his problematization of the thesis of human exception, seek to show that numerous philosophical or philosophically relevant concepts still have the anachronistic assumption of an absolute discontinuity of humans with respect to the rest of living beings. Said assumption brings both ethical and epistemological problems. Based on this current philosophical framework, this article analyzes the possibility of finding this assumption in two concepts of Lacanian psychoanalytic theory, namely, the mirror stage and the paternal function. The objective is not so much to problematize its validity in relation to psychoanalytic theory, but rather, its contemporary philosophical relevance in a critical context of the idea of human exceptionalism.Downloads
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