Stupidity and Psychoanalysis

There is nothing new in thinking that we live in stupid times. Many past thinkers thought about stupidity as a symptom, however, Lacan considered stupidity as immune to the influence of psychoanalysis, saying about himself, “I am only relatively stupid―that is to say, I am as stupid as all people―perhaps because I got a little bit enlightened." Here it seems that stupidity signifies (and is signified by) the absence of any coherent foundation in desire and lack, but instead emanate from the will to jouissance. Here stupidity is inescapable whether it be individual, communal, or ideological.

In Stupidity and Psychoanalysis, chapters by internationally respected Lacanian analysts and theoreticians think about how we can understand stupidity as a specific psychoanalytic encounter. This collection draws critical Lacanian attention to considering new ways to approach stupidity and stupor as new contemporary subjective and social forms. Contributors provide various insights into how stupidity might be rethought as contemporary signifiers whose importance lies (for better or worse) more in producing effect than in transmitting meaning.

Contributors: Giole P. Cima, Christian Ingo Lenz Dunker, David Ferraro, Luis Izcovich, Adrian Johnston, James Martell, Jean-Michel Rabate, Samo Tomsic, Antonio Viselli, and Cindy Zeiher.