It has not been a regular practice of mine on this site to respond publicly to either anonymous or pseudonymous interlocutors, in relation to blog posts. Yesterday, however, through a remark that linked back to my page on Lacan’s concept of the Nom-du-Père as the master signifier for the Name of (God) the Father and which remark was clearly intended for me to find, I learned that someone going by the pseudonym of Le Père Sévère [The Severe Father] had commenced writing a blog – aptly titled nom-du-père – about the intersection of Lacan and Christianity; and whose first post Son of Man contains significant, albeit subtle, errors of reasoning in both the realms of psychology and spirituality. Le Père Sévère‘s remark, referred to above, was that I am “an unashamedly reactionary, Catholic Lacanian.”
Now, normally, I would simply pass by such an obvious tease. But given
- the particular identity of this pseudonymous interlocutor – who, it turns out, is not-so-pseudonymous after all, despite the attempt. Sorry to disappoint you, Le Père Sévère!
- the nature of the remark itself – which I by no means contest;
- the subtle errors of reasoning – which can easily deceive the unsuspecting;
- the relevance of the raised subject matter in relation to this site;
- the fact that Le Père Sévère “attends” – derived from the word attendre and a double play on it: that is, both takes note (presumably of what has been written about Lacan’s Nom-du-Père and God the Father), and waits (presumably for the response); and
- that responding would be, at least, an educative process for all involved; both writers and readers,
I have decided, after due consideration, to pick up the gauntlet and play in the space in between, by responding publicly to Le Père Sévère. Stay tuned, therefore, for the next posts in which I will fisk the Son of Man and more, in relation to the intersection between Lacan, psychology, and Christian spirituality in the apostolic tradition.
