Two-Volume Book Proposal: The Undecidable Unconscious and the Ethics of Care

Two-Volume Book Proposal

Author: Eric W. Anders, Ph.D., Psy.D.

Volume I Title: The Undecidable Unconscious Volume I: Psychoanalysis, the Humanities, and the Ethics of Care

Volume I Overview

The Undecidable Unconscious Volume I: Psychoanalysis, the Humanities, and the Ethics of Care lays the foundational argument for a two-volume project by addressing how psychoanalysis and deconstruction must come together in a way that is grounded in a practical ethics of care. It critiques the humanities’ tendency to fetishize avant-garde theory and argues for the clinical grounding of “decon-psa” (deconstruction and psychoanalysis) as a model for transformative praxis. Through a detailed examination of Lacan’s “discourse of the University,” this volume critiques how institutionalized knowledge forecloses the truth of the unconscious and sustains contradictions between humanist and anti-humanist approaches in the humanities.

This clinical grounding serves as a springboard for proposing a new Health Humanities (HH), one that refuses to deny the truth of the unconscious and centers psychoanalysis as a core framework. This “return of the repressed” provides a practical foundation for ethical care in both the clinic and the classroom, allowing for a relational engagement that is attuned to the complexities of subjectivity and vulnerability.

Volume II Title: The Undecidable Unconscious Volume II: The Fevered Archive and the Ethics of Cyborgian Care

Volume II Overview

The Undecidable Unconscious Volume II: The Fevered Archive and the Ethics of Cyborgian Care builds upon the foundational argument in Volume I by examining the transformations that occur when the repressed truth of the unconscious is reintegrated into the Health Humanities. This radical shift, grounded in psychoanalysis, generates a new form of “archive fever”—an intensified, destabilizing interplay of memory and forgetting that extends Derrida’s original concept.

This fevered archive, compounded by the inclusion of Digital Humanities (DH), creates new complexities in the ethics of care, now reimagined as cyborgian care. Volume II addresses how cyborgian subjectivity—networked, hybrid, and temporally non-linear—transforms ethical responsibility and relationality. It critiques the limitations of human-centered ethics (including radical atheism) and proposes an ethics of cyborgian care that integrates Derridean temporality, psychoanalytic insights, and the iterative processes of repair required by cyborg ontology.

Table of Contents V1: The Undecidable Unconscious Volume I: Psychoanalysis, the Humanities, and the Ethics of Care

Introduction: The Contradictions of the University

• Purpose: Introduce the double bind of humanism and anti-humanism in the humanities, the denial of the unconscious in American psychology, and the marginalization of psychoanalysis and deconstruction.

• Frameworks Explored: Lacan’s “discourse of the University,” Derridean deconstruction, and practical ethics of care.

• Conclusion: Frames psychoanalysis and deconstruction as essential tools for grounding ethical praxis in the clinic and classroom.

Chapter 1: The Humanities’ Double Bind

• Objective: Analyze the contradictions between humanist and anti-humanist paradigms in academic disciplines.

• Key Themes:

  • Humanism’s dominance in the humanities.

  • Anti-humanism relegated to theoretical silos.

  • Practical implications for “decon-psa” as a bridging framework.

Chapter 2: American Psychology and the Denial of the Unconscious

• Objective: Critique the empiricism and neuroscience focus of American psychology.

• Key Themes:

  • Historical marginalization of psychoanalysis.

  • Lacanian critiques of technocratic knowledge systems.

  • Potential for psychoanalysis to inform relational care in Health Humanities.

Chapter 3: The University’s Foreclosure of the Unconscious

• Objective: Examine how institutional structures suppress psychoanalytic and deconstructive insights.

• Key Themes:

  • Foreclosure as a defense against undecidability.

  • Need for ethical engagement informed by the unconscious.

Chapter 4: Lacan’s Discourse of the University and the Analyst

• Objective: Use Lacan’s discourses to frame the University’s contradictions and psychoanalysis’ transformative potential.

• Key Themes:

  • Contrasting the “discourse of the University” and “discourse of the Analyst.”

  • Ethical and relational care in clinical settings.

Chapter 5: Toward a Psychoanalytic Health Humanities

• Objective: Propose a reimagined Health Humanities centered on the unconscious.

• Key Themes:

  • Integration of psychoanalysis into HH frameworks.

  • Ethical care in both the clinic and the classroom.

Conclusion: Let Us Not Forget the Clinic

• Objective: Reaffirm the practical grounding of “decon-psa” in relational care.

• Key Themes:

  • Ethical praxis informed by psychoanalysis.

  • Foundations for Volume II’s exploration of cyborgian care.

Table of Contents V2: The Undecidable Unconscious Volume II: The Fevered Archive and the Ethics of Cyborgian Care

Introduction: The Fevered Archive

• Objective: Summarize Volume I’s argument, framing the transition to the complexities introduced by DH and cyborg subjectivity.

• Key Themes:

  • Archive fever as intensified by the “return of the repressed” unconscious.

  • Ethical implications of integrating psychoanalysis into HH and DH.

Chapter 1: Archive Fever in the Digital Age

• Objective: Extend Derrida’s concept of archive fever to include digital memory and psychoanalytic frameworks.

• Key Themes:

  • Differance in digital archives.

  • Ethical challenges of preservation and exclusion.

Chapter 2: Cyborgian Subjectivity and Ethical Responsibility

• Objective: Explore how cyborgian subjectivity disrupts traditional ethical frameworks.

• Key Themes:

  • Hybrid, networked identities.

  • Redistribution of vulnerability and care.

Chapter 3: Radical Atheism and Its Limits

• Objective: Critique radical atheism’s reliance on finitude in light of cyborg ontology.

• Key Themes:

  • Temporality and spacing in Derridean care.

  • Iterative repair in cyborgian ethics.

Chapter 4: The Ethics of Cyborgian Care

• Objective: Develop an ethical framework for cyborgian care.

• Key Themes:

  • Integration of psychoanalytic and deconstructive insights.

  • Practical applications in HH and DH contexts.

Chapter 5: Practical Applications of Cyborgian Care

• Objective: Address clinical and pedagogical demands of cyborgian care.

• Key Themes:

  • Relational care in a technologized world.

  • Ethical responsibility in hybrid subjectivities.

Conclusion: Toward a Fevered Praxis

• Objective: Synthesize the arguments across both volumes, emphasizing the transformative potential of psychoanalysis, deconstruction, and cyborgian care.

• Key Themes:

  • Bridging the clinic and the classroom.

  • Ethical praxis for a hybridized, technologized world.