Negativity in Psychoanalysis: Theory and Clinic

Negativity in Psychoanalysis examines the role of negativity in psychoanalytic theory and its application in clinical settings.

While theories around negativity and death drive have become routinized within philosophical interpretations of Freudian and Lacanian psychoanalysis, they often mask an inherent positivity. This volume assembles highly esteemed psychoanalytic theorists and clinicians for an in-depth discussion on the topic. It features comprehensive introductions to Freudian and Lacanian perspectives, alongside contemporary clinical and cultural issues. The book also investigates how psychoanalytic negativity influences and is influenced by social, theological, and philosophical dialogues.

This work will prove invaluable for practicing psychoanalysts and those in training, while also appealing to academics and scholars in critical and cultural theory, continental and post-continental philosophy, and sociology, especially those whose research intersects clinical and theoretical traditions.

Duane Rousselle, PhD, is a Canadian sociological theorist and practicing Lacanian psychoanalyst. He is a visiting associate professor of sociology at the University Colleges of Dublin and Cork.

Mark Gerard Murphy is an editor for the political journal and blog Taiwan Insight and a lecturer at St. Mary’s University, Scotland, Gillis Centre, where he convenes courses on ethics, philosophy, and mystical theology and spirituality. His research interests include the relationship between psychoanalysis and mystical theology. He has published in the Journal for Cultural and Religious Theory and the European Journal of Psychoanalysis.