Frank Stella, Firuzabad, 1970, synthetic polymer paint on canvas

FOUNDATIONS OF PSYCHOANALYSIS

Ears to Hear

Daniel Heller-Roazen

Saturday, February 4, 2023 • 10:00 AM – 12:30 PM
Time Zone: Eastern Standard Time (US and Canada)

This presentation will be held via Zoom

According to the Greek tragedy Prometheus Bound, human beings once “had ears but did not understand.” Prometheus then initiated them into a special art of divination, showing them how to catch crucial yet elusive signs in obscure words and calls, grasping truths inaccessible to ordinary perception by a practice of overhearing. This presentation will discuss some ancient customs of grasping omens in chance acts of speech, setting them in relation to the study of slips inaugurated by Freud.

Suggested readings: Aeschylus: Prometheus Bound. Cicero: On Divination. Freud: The Psychopathology of Everyday Life (1901). Lacan: “On a Question Prior to Any Possible Treatment of Psychosis” (1957), Écrits.

Daniel Heller-Roazen is Arthur W. Marks ’19 Professor of Comparative Literature at Princeton University. Most recent books are Absentees: On Variously Missing Persons (2021) and No One’s Ways: An Essay on Infinite Naming (2017)

General fee: $30 per session

For students with ID*: $10 per session

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For Members and Participants who have paid the annual fee for this year, attendance is free and an access code will be emailed to you shortly. For the faculty and students of the School of Visual Arts, please email admin@apres-coup.org to request the access code.