In search of lost jouissance

Abstract

<jats:p>In the present text, I shall discuss jouissance and its relation to body and desire. Drawing on the works of Sigmund Freud and Jacques Lacan, I will proceed from the viewpoint that the essential property of jouissance is that does not grasp the concept of proper measure and does not follow the logic of consequentialism. In this respect, jouissance will be interpreted as a capitulation of the pleasure principle that is characterized by indifference to the subject’s survival. Jouissance will be further treated in relation to the body as the terrain of its existence, which is, however, significantly characterized by its failure in achieving jouissance. As a result, jouissance will be conceptualized as something unsuccessful, something that is structurally marked by the lack.</jats:p>