The Triumph of Religion

Lacan, Kierkegaard and contemporary religion

19 Sep 2007
20 Sep 2007

At a press conference in Rome, 1974, when asked for his opinion about the relation between psychoanalysis and religion, Lacan promptly replied: “In the end, it is either the one, or the other.” He hesitates in answering the next question: “Who, then, will win the battle?” He finally stated that “religion will never go down.” Religion, he adds, will “triumph.” And after a moment of doubt, he feels compelled to state the opposite about psychoanalysis: it will certainly not triumph; at best it will live on for a while.

Is it fair to say that this passage is indicative of the numerous references to religious and theological issues in Lacan’s oeuvre? On the one hand, he severely criticises religion and defends the greatness of modern atheism. On the other, his references to theological issues and schemes are so crucial in the construction of his theory that one is inclined to consider it an instance of ‘a-theology’, and, as such, still theology.

What does Lacan state about religion? And what do these reflections on religion say about his theory and contemporary critical theory in general? Taking the two questions as a guide, the conference explores how Lacanian theory deals with the current revival (or persistence) of religion and with religious fundamentalism. Lacan’s difficulties in replying to the current ‘triumph of religion’ might shed light on the incapacity of contemporary critical thought in general to deal with that issue.

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