The Psychoses : Jacques Lacan’s Seminar III (1955–1956)

Abstract

SUMMARY During the academic year 1955–1956, Jacques Lacan, a prominent psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, delivered his third seminar in Paris. Seventy years later it remains little known among psychiatrists in the UK. Seminar III was devoted to the psychoses, particularly the delusional disorders. Building on Eugen Bleuler’s search for psychogenetic mechanisms, Lacan proposed ‘failure of the paternal function’ among patients vulnerable to psychotic illness. Our Memory Lane article succinctly explains the theorisation of psychosis that Lacan offered and argues for its continuing clinical relevance.