A perspective on the superego from the Lacanian Orientation

• Leonardo Martín Prado Rivas

  Instituto de Investigación en Ciencias Humanas y de la Educación, Universidad La Salle-Bolivia

  Author

The psychic instance of the superego is a clinical discovery by Freud. Although its development and study led him to connect the concept with social, philosophical, and even anthropological phenomena, it is essentially a phenomenon that emerges from listening to the subject’s distress. Many of them are submerged in tormenting thoughts that break in without voluntary control, absurd compulsive practices, guilt-driven sacrifices, and, above all, silent self-destructive behaviors that point to a common element: they are driven by a voice that issues obscene and senseless commands, overwhelming them beyond themselves. Since its introduction into theory, the psychic instance of the superego has given rise to countless and varied debates about its origin and functioning in the unconscious.
This work takes the challenge of addressing the superego through Lacan’s readng, proposing a path that goes beyond classical Oedipal elaborations and moves toward other related concepts that link it to the voice and to the imperative of jouissance.

1. Leonardo Martín Prado Rivas, Instituto de Investigación en Ciencias Humanas y de la Educación, Universidad La Salle-Bolivia

   Licenciado en Psicología Universidad Católica Boliviana San Pablo. Magíster en estudios psicoanalíticos Universidad Católica Boliviana San Pablo. Responsable Departamental de Salud Mental UTRAID SEDES- La Paz. Docente universitario de la Universidad La Salle. https://orcid.org/0009-0007-7999-9230

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