SEMINAR

On Voluntary Servitude

Paola Mieli

Saturday, February 27, 2021 • 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM (EST)

In times like these, as new forms of totalitarianism are taking over everywhere, it’s necessary to reflect on humans’ inherent propensity to take joy in their own servitude. Returning to Freud's and Lacan’s articulations of the subject of language and the social link, and that subject’s passion for ignorance, the seminar will explore the nature of the drive, masochism, and the ways the superego dictates the law one abides by. Psychoanalytic ethics can open a breach out of subjective servitude.

Suggested readings for February 27: Etienne de la Boétie (1530-1563), The Discourse of Voluntary Servitude; S. Freud, On Narcissism: An Introduction (1914); S. Freud, Group Psychology and Analysis of the Ego (1921); S. Freud, "The Libido Theory" in Two Encyclopaedia Articles (1922).

Paola Mieli is a psychoanalyst practicing in New York City. She is the president of Après-Coup Psychoanalytic Association (New York), a member of Le Cercle Freudien (Paris), of Espace Analytique (Paris), and of the section of Psychoanalysis in Psychiatry of the World Psychiatry Association (WPA). She is the author of numerous essays on psychoanalysis and on culture.

Fee: $20 per meeting 
For students with ID: $10 per meeting*

This seminar is the second of a 5-part series taking place on the following Saturdays: January 30, February 27, March 20, April 17, May 8. Registration opens about 10-14 days before each event and will be announced via email, on our website, and via Facebook.

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For annual fee members of Après-Coup as well as for the faculty and students of the School of Visual Arts, attendance is free but registration is required. Use access code during checkout. Need access code? Email apres.coup@yahoo.com to request.

We recommend that you sign in 5 minutes early to ensure your connection can be made without any issues.

*Please email a photo of your Student ID to apres.coup@yahoo.com.