The Genealogy of Psychoanalysis - Tapa blanda

This book's basic argument is that the Freudian unconscious, far from constituting a radical break with the philosophy of consciousness, is merely the latest exemplar in a heritage of philosophical misunderstanding of the Cartesian Cogito that interprets 'I think, therefore I am' as 'I represent myself, therefore I am' (in the classic interpretation of Heidegger, one of the targets of this book). The book traces this heritage from Descartes through Malebranche, Leibniz, Kant, and Schopenhauer to Freud. It also discusses Nietzsche, whom the author argues stands outside this genealogy. In terms of contemporary theory, it presents a new analysis of the link between being and representation that has been central to French and American theory for the last two decades. For psychoanalysis, it provides fuel for those who are trying to go beyond both Freudian and Lacanian analysis to develop a psychoanalytic approach based on affect.