seminar

Kazimir Malevich, Suprematist Composition, 1916

The Algorithm of Transference: From Supposed Knowledge to the Object-Cause

Adriana Passini

This seminar will examine Lacan’s algorithm of transference and the transformation of the analytic relation it formalizes. Beginning with Freud’s account of transference and Lacan’s reading of Plato’s Symposium, it will consider how the supposition of knowledge establishes the transference. From this point of departure, the seminar will address the desire and the discourse of the analyst, and the place of object a, asking how the analytic process moves from the supposition of knowledge to the construction of object a as the cause of desire.

Suggested Readings: Freud: “The Dynamics of Transference” (1912), “Remembering, Repeating and Working-Through” (1914). Lacan: Selected classes from Seminars VIII: Transference (1960-61); XI: The Four Fundamental Concepts of Psychoanalysis (1964); XVII: The Other Side of Psychoanalysis (1969-70); XXIII: The Sinthome (1975-76); and the “Proposition of 9 October 1967 on the Psychoanalyst of the School.”

Location: Online via Zoom. 

Dates: Four meetings will take place on Wednesdays from 12:15 PM to 1:30 PM, on September 30, October 21, November 18, and December 9, 2026.

Fee: Attendance is free.

Registration: Prior registration is required. For more information, please contact Adriana Passini at adrianapassini@aol.com.

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Adriana Passini is a psychoanalyst in private practice in New York City and a member and faculty member of the Après-Coup Psychoanalytic Association. Previously, she served on the Advisory Board of the American Association for Psychoanalysis in Clinical Social Work (AAPCSW) and directed a mental health clinic in New York City. She has also taught courses on Lacan at the National Psychological Association for Psychoanalysis (NPAP).