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Lacan’s Cybernetic Theory of Causality: Repetition and the Unconscious in Duncan Jones’ Source Code

Wright, Colin

Authors



Contributors

Svitlana Matviyenko
Editor

Judith Roof
Editor

Abstract

This chapter explores the intersections between the fields of Lacanian psychoanalysis and theories of the posthuman. It argues that Lacan's early engagements with cybernetics and game theory prefigured many of the questions about artificial intelligence and enhanced cognition that characterise posthuman debates. However, it also argues that Lacan's notion of the subject, and the psychic causality specific to it, adds novel perspectives to posthumanism. To explore the tensions between these positions, the chapter undertakes a Lacanian reading of the 2011 movie, Source Code, which raises precisely the issue of recursive temporality which is at the heart of Lacan's theory of psychic causality.

Citation

Wright, C. (2018). Lacan’s Cybernetic Theory of Causality: Repetition and the Unconscious in Duncan Jones’ Source Code. In S. Matviyenko, & J. Roof (Eds.), Lacan and the Posthuman (67-88). London: Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-76327-9_5

Acceptance Date Jul 18, 2017
Online Publication Date May 1, 2018
Publication Date May 1, 2018
Deposit Date Jan 2, 2019
Publisher Palgrave Macmillan
Pages 67-88
Series Title The Palgrave Lacan Series
Series Number 8
Book Title Lacan and the Posthuman
Chapter Number 5
ISBN 978-3-319-76326-2
DOI https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-76327-9_5
Keywords Lacan, Posthuman, psychic causality, Source Code
Public URL https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1439889
Publisher URL https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-76327-9_5