Zupan\u010di\u010d, A. (2003) The Shortest Shadow: Nietzsche’s Philosophy of the Two. MIT Press<\/p>\n
If this man were to act as Kant suggests (and thus to renounce\u00a0spending the night with the Lady), he would embrace the\u00a0pleasure principle as the ultimate principle of his action.<\/p>\n
On the\u00a0other hand, his decision to spend the night with his Lady, regardless\u00a0of the consequences, testifies to the opposite…\u00a0\u201cto spend the night with the desired Lady,\u201d even if we are to hang for\u00a0it, is a perfect example of sublimation<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cTo raise an object to the dignity of the Thing,\u201d<\/span> <\/strong>as a fundamental\u00a0gesture of sublimation<\/span><\/strong>, thus enables us to accept as possible something\u00a0the possibility of which is excluded from the realm of the reality\u00a0principle.<\/p>\n The \u00a0[reality\u00a0principle<\/span><\/strong>] normally functions as the criterion of\u00a0possible transgressions of the pleasure principle<\/span><\/strong>. That is to say: the reality\u00a0principle<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0sets limits to transgressions of the pleasure principle<\/span><\/strong>;\u00a0it tolerates, or even imposes, certain transgressions, and excludes For instance, it [reality\u00a0principle<\/span><\/strong>]\u00a0demands that we accept some\u00a0displeasure as the condition of our survival, and of our social well being\u00a0in general, whereas it excludes some other transgressions of\u00a0the pleasure principle<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0that serve no such purpose (or no purpose at\u00a0all).<\/p>\n Its [reality\u00a0principle<\/span><\/strong>] function of criterion hence consists in setting limits within\u00a0the field governed by the binary system pleasure\/pain. Sublimation\u00a0<\/span>is what enables us to challenge this criterion<\/strong>, and eventually to formulate\u00a0a different one.<\/p>\n The important thing to point out here is that\u00a0the reality\u00a0principle<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0is not simply some kind of natural way associated\u00a0with how things are, to which sublimation<\/span><\/strong> would oppose itself The reality principle itself is ideologically mediated; one could even claim that it constitutes the highest form\u00a0of ideology, the ideology that presents itself as empirical fact or (biological,\u00a0economic . . .) necessity (and that we tend to perceive as\u00a0nonideological).<\/p>\n Thus, the Lacanian theory of sublimation\u00a0<\/span><\/strong>does not suggest that sublimation<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0turns away from the Real<\/span><\/strong> in\u00a0the name of some Idea; rather, it suggest that sublimation<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0gets closer It [sublimation]<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/strong>aims at the Real<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0precisely\u00a0at the point where the Real<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0cannot be reduced to reality.<\/p>\n One could\u00a0say that sublimation<\/span><\/strong> opposes itself to reality, or turns away from it,\u00a0precisely in the name of the Real<\/span><\/strong>.<\/p>\n To raise an object to the dignity of\u00a0the Thing<\/span><\/strong> is not to idealize it, but, rather, to \u201crealize\u201d it, that is, to\u00a0make it function as a stand-in for the Real<\/span><\/strong>.<\/p>\n Sublimation<\/span> is thus related to ethics<\/strong> insofar as it is not entirely\u00a0subordinated to the reality principle, but liberates or creates a space\u00a0from which it is possible to attribute certain values to something\u00a0other than the recognized and established \u201ccommon good.\u201d<\/p>\n The creative act of sublimation<\/strong> is not only a creation of some\u00a0new good, but also (and principally) the creation and maintenance\u00a0of a certain space for objects that have no place in the given, extant\u00a0reality, objects that are considered \u201cimpossible.\u201d Sublimation gives<\/span><\/strong> If\u00a0Antigone<\/strong><\/span> raises her brother\u2019s funeral to the dignity of the Thing,<\/strong>\u00a0Sophocles raises to the dignity of the Thing the very passion or desire\u00a0that supports Antigone in her act<\/strong>.<\/p>\n In the play Antigone, we have\u00a0Antigone\u2019s act, but we also have Sophocles\u2019 act,<\/strong> which consists\u00a0in giving an uncontestable value to the \u201cirrational passion\u201d of\u00a0Antigone\u2019s act.<\/p>\n We are thus dealing with a rather unusual meaning of the term\u00a0sublimation<\/span><\/strong>: it concerns the creation of a certain space, scene, or\u00a0\u201cstage\u201d that enables us to value something that is situated beyond the\u00a0reality principle<\/span><\/span><\/strong>, as well as beyond the principle of the common\u00a0good. It is at this point that sublimation<\/span> is related to ethics<\/span>.<\/strong><\/p>\n However, another remark is necessary here. The attribution of\u00a0value to the beyond of the reality principle is never a direct, immediate one. In other words, what sublimation allows us to value or to\u00a0appreciate is never the Thing (das Ding) itself, but always some more\u00a0or less banal, everyday object, a quotidian object elevated to the dignity\u00a0of the Thing (and an object that also somehow always masks the\u00a0Thing as the central void): the night spent with the Lady; a brother\u2019s\u00a0burial. . . .<\/p>\n In Lacanian terms, sublimation\u00a0<\/span><\/strong>stages a parade, displaying\u00a0a series of objets petit a<\/em><\/span><\/strong> that have it in their power not only to evoke\u00a0the Thing,<\/strong> but also to mask or veil it. They obfuscate the difference\u00a0between themselves and the void<\/strong> to which they give body, the void\u00a0<\/strong>to which they owe what appears to be their most intrinsic feature of\u00a0value.<\/p>\n From there emerges the other significant theme that Lacan develops\u00a0in relation to sublimation<\/span><\/strong>: the theme of delusion or lure<\/strong>. It is\u00a0no coincidence that the chapter introducing the discussion of sublimation<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0bears the title \u201cDrives and Lures.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Zupan\u010di\u010d, A. (2003) The Shortest Shadow: Nietzsche’s Philosophy of the Two. MIT Press If this man were to act as Kant suggests (and thus to renounce\u00a0spending the night with the Lady), he would embrace the\u00a0pleasure principle as the ultimate principle of his action. On the\u00a0other hand, his decision to spend the night with his Lady, … Continue reading “zupan\u010di\u010d sublimation pt 1”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[125,79,21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13275","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-drive","category-ethics_real","category-jouissance"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.terada.ca\/discourse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13275","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.terada.ca\/discourse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.terada.ca\/discourse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.terada.ca\/discourse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.terada.ca\/discourse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13275"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.terada.ca\/discourse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13275\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13294,"href":"https:\/\/www.terada.ca\/discourse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13275\/revisions\/13294"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.terada.ca\/discourse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13275"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.terada.ca\/discourse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13275"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.terada.ca\/discourse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13275"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nothers.<\/p>\n
\nin the name of some Idea.<\/p>\n
\nto the Real<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0than the reality principle does.<\/p>\n
\nvalue to what the reality principle<\/span> does not value<\/span><\/strong>.<\/p>\n