Abstract for Almerindo Antonio Boff's Freud, Lacan, Derrida: Psychoanalysis in Différance (unofficial translation)

Freud, Lacan, Derrida: Psychoanalysis in Différance

by Almerindo Antonio Boff

My Unofficial Translation of Boff's Abstract:

When Freud created psychoanalysis at the end of the 19th century, he focused on explaining the epistemological foundations that supported his claim to have established a new science—one he positioned as a branch of the natural sciences. Consequently, psychoanalysis hoped to share with the natural sciences both its epistemological underpinnings and its Weltanschauung (worldview).

By the mid-20th century, however, criticisms of psychoanalysis’s scientific status—especially from neopositivist epistemology—prompted Jacques Lacan to revisit its epistemological basis. Lacan sought to reframe psychoanalysis by grounding it in new foundations.

This text argues that, following Lacan’s approach to the problem, an original conception of psychoanalysis emerges from outside its traditional domain, specifically from the philosophy of Jacques Derrida. Derrida contended that psychoanalysis not only transcends the boundaries of a regional science but also aligns with his "graphematic" theory, offering a unique framework for understanding the constitution of reality itself.

The work traces Derrida’s critique of Freudian epistemology and Lacanian structuralist psychoanalysis of the 1950s, ultimately engaging with contemporary thought. It explores the intersections of Lacan’s later work in psychoanalysis and Alain Badiou’s contributions to philosophy, particularly their shared grounding in mathematical formalization.

In addition to proposing a new epistemology of psychoanalysis inspired by Derrida’s philosophy, the text follows Derrida in pointing toward the provocative and still-unfolding directions of a "psychoanalysis to come."

My Excitement and Some Premature Questions for Boff:

I am thrilled to discover another clinician-philosopher engaging deeply with Freud, Lacan, and Derrida and working to integrate the valuable insights from their work. Almerindo Antônio Boff’s abstract leaves me inspired--and looking forward to a proper English translation of the Portuguese--yet full of questions.

First, while Boff’s exploration of Derrida’s critique of Freudian and Lacanian epistemologies is fascinating, I am curious about his engagement with Derrida's essay "La facteur de la vérité," where Derrida critiques Lacan’s "epistemology" as being tied to what he calls "castration truth." Does Boff address this critique in the book, or does his reading of Lacan and Derrida take a different direction?

Second, I share Boff’s excitement about the connections between philosophy and psychoanalysis, but I wonder how Badiou’s mathematical ontology might "square"—or clash—with Derrida’s ontology of the undecidable, the incalculable, or the unsquarable. For Derrida, the unconscious is radically undecidable, as he argues in "The Post Card" (particularly in the section "La facteur de la vérité"), where he critiques Lacan’s concept of the unconscious as ultimately decidable.

How does Boff address this tension between what seems to be Badiou’s formalism and Derrida’s anti-formalist deconstruction, and does he see a way to reconcile these seemingly divergent approaches?

These questions reflect both my admiration for Boff’s project as described in my unofficial translation, and my eagerness to see how his book navigates these complex but essential debates.