Lacan and the English Language
by Jean-Pierre Cléro

Jean-Pierre Cléro has provided the first detailed account of the influence of English-language psychoanalysts, philosophers, and mathematicians upon Lacan. He reveals the extent of Lacan’s interest in the Anglo-Saxon tradition and how Lacan’s erudition generated a re-evaluation of some thinkers—Boole and Bentham, for example—within that tradition. In this investigation, Cléro also identifies a “missed” encounter between Lacan and the British psychoanalytic community that led Lacan to question the efficacy of the English language to translate the unconscious.
This book is sure to be a significant contribution to the study of Lacan in English and a highly original contribution to the study of major influences on Lacan’s thought.

More about the Author of this Book

Jean-Pierre Cléro is Professor of Philosophy Emeritus at the University of Rouen (France). His areas of research are mathematics (probability and game theory), English-language philosophy (the philosophy of passions in Hume, classical and modern utilitarianism), and medical ethics. In each of these areas, as well as in linguistics and the philosophy of language, he has published a number of important books and articles.